Spoiled oil: my solution

I think gas prices are still too low.\nBut wait and listen to my argument before you go off on a wild rant suggesting all kinds of improper stuff about me. \nI generally agree with you that it's a lot of money to fill up a tank of gas and it is annoying beyond compare. But I've moved on from that thought to something more radical and far-sighted.\nLast week, the national average price of gas per gallon was $3.07. But it might still not be high enough for one thing to occur -- a fundamental shift in American consumer demand for gasoline. I'm talking about a shift away from Hummers and SUVs to an outright cry for alternatives like hybrid and electric cars. The Washington Post cited that despite the rise in gas prices, Exxon Mobil Corp. announced its second-quarter profit was up 32 percent to $7.64 billion. There are four quarters in a year. Do the multiplication and try to understand how much of a hold these companies have on us.\nI laugh when I roll into the pump every three weeks to fill up my modestly gas-saving Honda Civic and see SUV drivers shell out $75 to fill up their gas-swallowing machines. It's funny because they bought something knowing it was three times more wasteful than my car.\nThink about that in terms of a real necessity. If I cooked three entrees for dinner every night and threw two of them away, would someone not have a problem with that? If the point of a car is to get you from one point to the other, why does it matter that it could hold nine adults, two tons of cargo, two oxen and groceries?\nThe only thing that can challenge the stranglehold foreign and domestic oil has on us is consumer demand. Should you be surprised to know who has the power in that relationship? The power rests in what we, as a collective buying public, want.\nWe wanted SUVs in the late 90s, and in 1997, large SUVs broke the 500,000 barrier and continued to rise in popularity. In 2001 the sales of light trucks and SUVs surpassed the sales of cars, according to a report for the Department of Energy.\nYet as easily as these SUVs have appeared, we can make them the minority again. \nIf gas prices go back down to an "acceptable level" then we, as Americans, are right back where we were. Oil owns us. And it will continue to do so until something fundamental changes. \nMy solution is for gas to rise to the point that we scream for hybrids that get 60 miles per gallon or we bike to work. Cars were designed to give us freedom but now they have locked us in. If that fundamental change takes $5 per gallon, then I guess that's what I'm willing to let happen so long as we are free.