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So, Nancy Pelosi is going to lead a Congressional caucus to the North American International Auto Show to see how Detroit’s new automotive products are shaping up and to listen to ideas from Michigan’s elected leaders.

Considering that Congress has invested at least $81 billion in the US auto industry, such a trip seems necessary.

And, without doubt, there will certinaly be photo ops with various plug-in vehicles, such as the Chevy Volt, and sound bites of how such vehicles are going to save Michigan and America, despite the fact that numerous studies claim such vehicles will have little impact on foreign oil dependency or CO2 emissions for decades. Nonetheless, I’m sure the trip will make for great PR.

Moreover, I’m sure there will be some references to new CAFE rules and how they’ve led to a plethora of new American small cars. Shoot, by 2020 the US auto industry’s fleet fuel economy might even match our competitor’s fleet fuel economy – well, at least what their fleet fuel economy is today.

Inevitably, however, America will still be heavily dependent upon foreign oil. In fact, based on most data available, the US will be heavily dependent upon dirty foreign oil for several more decades, minimally, barring any new, aggressive change in Congressional policy.

Thus, I must ask, can Congress aggressively and swiftly fight foreign oil dependence and save the US auto industry, while not bankrupting the US economy nor increasing CO2 emissions? Is such a task simply impossible, or is it Congress that is the problem?