And what, the next Great Depression?  We're in a pretty big fix at the moment.  Thanks to lowering interest rates too much we've ended up with a negative savings rate.  The next recession is going to be brutal because most people will not have the assets to weather the downturn.  

Don't get me wrong, the Federal Reserve needs to raise rates and they will, but I don't see the correlation with energy consumption.  Yes, a recession may cause a drop in consumption, but higher energy prices in itself should also cause a drop in consumption and a move to more efficient use of energy.  

I don't know how many friends I have who leave their computers running 24/7 (because waiting 30 seconds to turn it on is so inconvenient), and drive like maniacs (because getting some place 2 minutes earlier is so important).  Most people don't even need to buy anything new or more efficient, they can make drastic changes by altering their own lifestyle.  Eventually if costs keep going up, they're going to realize the need to do so.  

Anyway, I don't really see the benefit of the Federal Reserve meddling directly in the oil market by essentially purposely causing a recession.  That's not their mandate (in fact it runs counter to it) and they're not going to do it.  They will cause recessions, but not a long drawn out, perpetual one like what you are suggesting.  

We can't worry about world oil consumption, we need to solve our own problems and improve our own efficiency before worrying about others.  We have the most room for improvement, and thus the most need to improve, as we will be hit hardest when energy becomes scarcer.  I just don't see how having the Federal Reserve try to solve the proble is anything other than a shotgun approach (even if they would do what you suggest and they won't).