Americans have long held a misplaced sense of entitlement to cheap fossil fuels. Maybe $4-5 per gallon is a long overdue wake up call for us to get off our collective asses, start conserving, and investing in mass transit as well as in alternative energy sources.
What a sorry sight it was to see President Bush go begging hat in hand to the Saudis to give the U.S. a price break for crude (which, the Bush ties to the royal family notwithstanding, they refused anyway). That spectacle in itself should be enough to raise American consciousness in favor of energy independence.
