Trains are disappearing. Rails are being torn up. Passenger ridership is down. Trucks are clogging the highways. Mass transit systems have to be heavily subsidized even in the busy NE corridor. Bus routes are being curtailed in many cities. I guess if we insist on driving cars when alternatives are available ... oil usage will keep going up. If we don't do something to increase mileage per vehicle, usage will keep going up. If we keep refusing to have refineries built because they don't look nice ... dependence on foreign refineries goes up. If we can' cut down a tree or put derricks in the water, we won't get more production. If we depend on foreign countries who are anxious to milk us for our money, costs will rise. If we don't go to low/no till farming and insist on plowing the fields and spreading the fertilizers and insecticides ... usage goes up. If we can't use ethanol or methanol, usage goes up.

If we keep our air conditioners on high in the summer and furnaces running hard int he winter and don't want to use nuclear energy ... usage goes up. If we insist on using clothes dryers instead of clotheslines; dishwashers instead of hands and towels; can't wear a shirt two days in a row or any of the other things we do (including computer and TV use), usage goes up.

We can complain about politicians, but the fact is, I bet every (ok most) well-to-do senators and congressional representative have oil holdings. Doesn't matter about party ... they all are looking to increase the value of their portfolios. In fact, the few we like to point fingers at probably have blind trusts managing their portfolios.

There used to be an ol' cartoon cartacter called POGO (some may remember him). His words of wisdom included ... "We have met the enemy and they is us."

I think he was right.