...I'll elaborate a little more...
Lets take for example the demand for Hybrid cars (disclosure: I have one). Recently California started allowing Hybrids with 45MPG or better into HOV lanes with only a driver. All you had to do was pay $8 for the stickers to ugly up your car. The idea was to get people to buy hybrids instead of conventional cars. They issues 75,000 stickers. I read some articles a few months ago that 65,000 had been issued and the rest were being processed. Basically that they were all gone and as soon as that happend the wait for a Prius became nearly nothing (I incquired about buying another) according to my original sales fella.
So, the stickers did what they were intended to do but I seriously doubt that there was any lasting effect to them. As soon as they ran out people stopped buying the Hybrids. Plus, there were really only two that met the requirements and could carry people; the Prius and the Civic. The others didn't get the MPG which begs the question in general about them: "What's the point?"
So the solution to our problems with oil are not really with "big oil" as I see but with *YOU* (not necassarily you personally but you the consumer) and *YOUR* choices to buy the f'ing Nissan ARMADA and the new FORD EXCURSION LS (LS stands for "Long son of a b*tch").
When you stop f'ing buying those earth destroyers they will stop making them. When simple f*ing demand for Hybrids and whatever fuel efficient vehicle there is today exists the market will adjust.
Personally I love my hybrid, it's a great little 4 family member vehicle. Sure I Can't haul a load of drywall in it but I don't need to do that too often. We get about 48mpg on average and have relatively short commutes. My other daily driver is a 911 and I really do drive it every day (14 miles round trip).
When we have our second kid the 911 will probably have to go and I won't hesitate to get another prius because I think they are rad.
Unfortunately I imagine we'll probably get an f'ing minivan.
Oh, and don't be a stupid lemming; vote no on 87. Change for the sake of change is stupid - vote for something intelligent (which is to say vote no on everything on this year's ballot).