There sure is a lot of international strife over fuel these days. This week the House passed a bill to allow the Justice Department to investigate collusion by OPEC to keep oil prices high. We don't want to suggest that we know more than the 345 representatives who votes for this bill, but OPEC is a cartel, and the definition of a cartel is a group that colludes to control prices, so OPEC's actions shouldn't come as a shock. And we'd like to remind them about what happened in 1973.

On the flip side of the supply issue, European biodiesel manufactures are mad that the US subsidizes biodiesel production for export, allowing US fuels to be priced lower than what the European companies can afford. Coupled with the fact that the US dollar is worth about as much as a pack of gum, European biodiesel companies are complaining about the "unfair" American policies that are putting them out of business.

The US companies responded to these complaints the only way Americans know how -- by threatening to sue them over other European Commission practices that they claim put the US at a disadvantage in their market.