Ross: The one thing the United States could do to truly hurt Iran

How to punish Iran for the attack on Saudi Arabia? Nobody wants an all-out war, but a pinprick attack certainly isn’t going to teach them a lesson.

Iran will still remain powerful, because Iran has oil. China, and much of Europe, still depend on that oil – which makes enforcing an embargo very hard, and Iran knows it.

But suppose the world didn’t need Iran’s oil. Suppose there was an oil glut?

Ross: If only we didn’t have to care about the world’s fuel supply

Suppose President Trump shocked everyone, did a complete 180, and announced a huge new subsidy for electric vehicles – a subsidy so generous that you couldn’t afford not to buy an electric car. That would blow everything else off the front page – especially since, lately, he’s been threatening to cut the electric car subsidy. But by reversing himself he could set the stage for a huge oil surplus.

Think about it: The United States uses 6 million barrels of oil a day just for passenger cars. If 25 percent of drivers to go electric, that would free up way more oil than Iran is exporting now. We could conceivably steal all their customers!

“Dave, that just sounds like a sneaky way to sell the Green New Deal.”

Yes – there might be the side-effect of saving civilization. But if it also spoils the day for a certain Ayatollah, why not?

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