I chalk this up as another Romney gaffe - one of his advisers probably should have told them that we are ALREADY on a course to acheive energy independence by 2020 WITHOUT his new plan.

USA Today reported on MAY 15, 2012:

Most enticing, a team of analysts and economists at Citigroup argues that the U.S., or at least North America, can achieve energy independence by 2020, as more domestic production and doubling down on conservation produce a virtuous cycle. The U.S. can make itself a net exporter of crude oil, refined products and natural gas — says Citigroup energy strategist Seth Kleinman.

Bloomberg reported on FEBRUARY 6, 2012:

Domestic oil output is the highest in eight years. The U.S. is producing so much natural gas that, where the government warned four years ago of a critical need to boost imports, it now may approve an export terminal.... And higher mileage standards and federally mandated ethanol use, along with slow economic growth, have curbed demand.

The result: The U.S. has reversed a two-decade-long decline in energy independence, increasing the proportion of demand met from domestic sources over the last six years to an estimated 81 percent through the first 10 months of 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from the U.S. Department of Energy. That would be the highest level since 1992.

If people were predicting we were on a path to energy independence by 2020 many months before Romney claimed he could get us there with a "new plan," I fail to see how this is relevant to the election.