The Free Market and Energy

I have been a fairly strong free-marketer here on the CW, but I have often deviated from orthodoxy on the intersection of the free market and energy independence.  Here's a little story (courtesy Instapundit) on how relatively low gas prices are likely to impact the market for fuel efficient vehicles (badly).  Keep feeding us cheap gas and we'll never ween ourselves from the supplier--you remember them, don't you?  The fellas in the Middle East who take our money and then fund the actions of folks who want to kill us?  And don't come at me with the whole "we don't get that much energy from the Middle East" thing.  We get enough, and the rest of the world gets plenty from them--in a fungible market.