Thanks for the refreshing glimpse of reality. It is amusing that we still aren't at the point where autos are purchased based primarily on fuel economy (which would be stage 1) yet the discussion revolves around stage 2, which might arrive in the distant future.

Your certainty about this is understandable, but a little amusing.

That 'Never' can turn on a dime.. and that dime is probably less than a decade away.

I suppose nobody ever did take the rifle out of Charlton's cold, dead hands, and he clings to it still, not that it'll do him much good. And at this point, taking it would just be mean.

What do you expect when the "car culture" and its trapping has been pounded into the heads of children from the time they can learn to read, if not sooner?

Why is it that, in California, the greatest day in a young person's life is not their graduation day from high school, but the day they get their driver's license?

This doesn't happen by accident but rather through relentless advertising, both direct and subliminal. It doesn't happen to nearly the same extent in Europe. Why? Gasoline or diesel costs the equivalent of 5-7 dollars a gallon. The people there accept this because they are educated enough to understand that, in return, they get essentially free health care and six weeks of vacation a year, in addition to a workable public transportation system (did I forget to mention a job?)

Until US citizens recognize that half a billion dollars a day disappears from the economy to pay for imported oil they refine and waste driving SOVs, you are absolutely right--the public will always be behind the curve on this, they will listen to the politician that promises them that their way of life is non-negotiable, and vote for these lizards; the heat will keep being added to the pot until everyone is cooked.

It used to be normall in Holland to bring your kid to school either walking or on a bike (ditance < 1.5 km). Now a days they are brought from the same neighbourhood to the same school by car as "there are so many cars it's dangerous for them to cross the street"

People are crazy...