Just for clarity: the citizen, the war president, and the environmental president are three different people (though for the sake of internet poo slinging I'll reserve the right to combind them
).
You can't "plant a tree and save the world", but it's a good start. One person could count the recycled oil drops while his neighbor kicks over a 55gallon drum.
The need for efficient home and transportation energy use has been pushed by the hippys since the 60s, but necessity (unfortunately) will be the mother of invention and acceptance. GE and BP seem to be getting the picture.