Unfortunately the only thing that is going to force people to confront the problem is high oil prices.  There will always be stories in the news about a pipeline here, or a new oilfield there.  The problem is that most people are innumerate, so if you tell them that an oilfield has a billion barrels, it sounds like such an inconceivably large number that they would never even suspect that on paper the world could suck such an oilfield dry in a matter of weeks.

People say that price is very inelastic, and in the short term this is true to an extent.  Prices go up, and people suck it up and pay the price.  Replacing a car is a big deal for most people, but if prices stay high long enough, it will ultimately happen.

Yes, I heard an NPR story about a new field in Utah with potential reserves of perhaps 1 billion barrels. This was reported uncritically, as though that was a lot of oil.
If Wolverine [Gas & Oil Corp] could produce 1 billion barrels at once, it could satisfy the nation's demand for about 45 days...