Reply #6: You're right, but "Ouch! Personal sacrifice? Like higher gas prices?" Won't win many votes.

[pampango]

Limiting oil drilling and taxing gas to create funds to invest in a "clean energy future" seem to be a "no go" in the American political culture. We would rather squeeze every last day and gallon of "cheap oil" that we can, then when "peak oil"/"big oil conspiracy"/"climate change crisis" catch up to us (as they have begun to do in the recent past), we'll grumble about higher gas prices and go on "squeezing".

When gas goes up another $1, we'll never ask what would have happened if we had taxed ourselves $.50 or $1 a gallon back in 2010 to give us alternatives to the gas that went up $1 anyway. Just grumble and pay.

We're all in favor of "personal sacrifice" as long as we get to choose which "person" is doing the sacrificing. :)