Feeling safer yet?

Even a stopped watch is right twice a day, and Chavez was right about one thing. He said U.S. consumerism was ``madness'' and that Americans are wasteful with oil and energy. Consuming less, he said, should be an environmental policy.

Correcto. Conservation also should be part of our foreign policy. Thugs like Chavez have power because of only one thing -- oil. Logically, our best weapon against our enemies is to neutralize them by eliminating our dependence on their oil. Not soon-ish, but now.

Even Bush, whose power base back in Texas is dripping in black gold, has said we need to wean ourselves from oil, but he has stopped short of making that goal a national mandate. He hasn't asked Americans to sacrifice or goaded industry to immediate action.

The war on terror has required much of men and women on the ground, but little of the rest of us, who continue to gorge and guzzle. I plead guilty, but have begun doing what little I can -- not because I'm virtuous, but because I don't want Chavez to have a seat on the U.N. Security Council.

Recently, we traded an SUV for a hybrid (Toyota Prius) that gets up to 60 miles per gallon. Many other automakers are creating hybrids, but they need to be cheaper and the incentives to buy greater.

Meanwhile, there are dozens of ways to conserve individually, which, though seemingly small, have a cumulative effect. For a quick primer on how to reduce oil dependence, pick up Laurie David's new booklet: ``The Solution is You!'' David is a global warming activist but her book could be a guide to thwarting terrorism. So the planet benefits, too. What a deal.

Through leadership, incentives and legislation, we could begin to sketch a new road map to peace. It might cost us a little upfront. It might even inconvenience us a bit. But in return, we get to ignore the bleatings of third-world despots, while defusing the power of jihad.

We can say the devil made us do it.