[jyl]

Suppose we gradually raised gas taxes and put that money into mass transit. Cities which currently have poor mass transit systems and choking traffic (LA, Seattle, for example) could develop good mass transit systems, and people could read and snooze on a comfortable train instead of suffering for 1 hour in traffic. The increases could be slower for regions where mass transit is not so feasible (rural areas, for instance).

Alternatively, maybe we could increase taxes or CAFE standards to favor more fuel-efficient vehicles. If 10% or 20% of demand for big fuel-sucking truck-based SUVs shifts to mid-sized fuel-efficient car-based SUVs, that would be significant.

I'd like to see the federal government actively looking at things like this. The government has done nothing to reduce gasoline consumption. We've spent over $300 billion on MidEast wars, oil has climbed to $60, and the only energy policy I hear from Washington is encouraging new nuclear power plants. I think more nuclear power is a good idea, but that will mostly replace coal, not oil.