They say politics make strange bedfellows. If that’s the case, then there is no stranger Scalia-approved orgy than the one taking place over at Set America Free.

Set America Free is a new organization dedicated to reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil. They tout serious investment ($12 billion) by President Bush into alternative energy sources and an increase in fuel efficiency for the American auto fleet. They want hybrid technology like that in the Toyota Prius to be encouraged (I guess DiCaprio driving one for the last two years just wasn’t enough).

What’s strange about the makeup of the group isn’t that it features the Natural Resources Defense Fund or the Apollo Alliance.

It’s the inclusion of Gary Bauer, he of the pancake flippin’, stage diving, failed presidential run and hardcore Christian right fame, or Daniel Pipes, a strident Zionist whose defense of all things Israel raises the ire of many.

It’s the inclusion of the likes of former director of the CIA and Iraq War hawk James Woolsey or Frank Gaffney, head of the Center for Security Policy.

Set America Free represents the beginning of what will hopefully be a sea change on the right regarding the environment. By tying a cleaner, more efficient, less oil driven American economy to security, perhaps the Republican Party can be weaned from Big Oil. Hey, a man’s gotta dream!

Unless Americans change the way they think about cars, think about travel and think about themselves, we will pay $7 a gallon in gas, suffer more instability in the Middle East and be forced to deal with unsavory regimes worldwide.

These values that we hold (big, gas-guzzling SUVs as a status symbol of our wealth) are incompatible with other values that we hold (stability and democracy worldwide, safety at home, an economy that can support itself).

All because we want to roll our Escalade on dubs.

Set America Free is a step in the right direction in addressing the heart of the hypocrisy of the American driving in his or her Yukon with a Support Our Troops magnet on. As the defense policy experts explain, if you supported our troops, you’d trade in that beast for a more sensible vehicle.

May I also interject that I can’t imagine a more facile way to “support our troops” than with a removable magnet. You spend virtually nothing, and your vehicle screams “Patriot!” all without bringing down resale value!

Americans have been living in a fantasyland of subsidized gas. For the past half-century we have been paying for gas that is not ruled by the market. Our gas should reflect its true per gallon value, which most experts agree is accurately around $5 a gallon and currently could truly be as high as $6.05 a gallon.

Would you drive as much with a $150 tab for your commute?

What is notable about Set America Free is its attempt to dislodge the “American Way” from the consumer culture of cars and denial of the auto industry that our lifestyle cannot possibly continue as it stands.

In his new book “Collapse,” author Jared Diamond tackles the weighty subject of societal dissolution. One of the key aspects he sees common in many ancient societies is their inability to adapt because of societal norms. When a society cannot let go of a destructive environmental practice, it contributes greatly to its own ultimate failure.

Set America Free may not make enough of a difference all by itself. But if its conservative members can start to convince the Republican Party of the need to acknowledge the threat of dependence on oil then they are a step in the right direction.

Unfortunately, as long as drilling in ANWAR, the denial that global warming even exists or the denial that China is about to have more cars than we do and use seven-times more oil dominates the thinking of the Republican Party, Set America Free will be pushing that crazy “alternative energy” boulder uphill.

Rob Deters ([email protected]) is a third-year law student.