I like your last two paragraphs... I think these are great topics to consider... almost everyone living in this country today was born into a system that is dependent on oil (except for the odd exceptions - the Amish? some obscure/rare intentional communities?). I do the best I can to minimize my own impact. My college years and a few years after were without car - it is possible in a city like Minneapolis. But even after I got a car, my main modes of transportation to work were still biking, walking, busing (depending on the season). Same after I moved here. Now I work at home so don't have the work commute, but because of my income and cost of a house in Asheville, I live 20 miles away from Asheville, which means I'm doing more driving to get there (even though I don't drive there every day - more like 3 times/week). There's no reward or incentive to live green... if I could be in the part of Asheville that I want to live in (walking distance of groceries and other needs), it would be possible, but inconvenient, to live without a car. I wouldn't give it up, but I'd put tons fewer miles on it. And I'm in the minority - most people would never consider this as a criteria of where they live. Sometimes I think the best thing that could happen would be for the gas prices to go through the roof, which would force our collective hand - both as individuals and as other entities such as corporations and governments. We do have the cheapest gas on the planet. It's a sick cycle.
Even the Amish use kerosene lamps and diesel-powered generators. Interestingly, they can also hire taxis and moving trucks, though they are generally not allowed to own cars. I'm sure they consume much fewer petroleum products than the average American, though.
When the gas prices hit their last peak, it caused a reverse housing crisis in some of the Twin Cities exurbs: new housing developments sitting empty for lack of interest.
Living in an exurb always seemed like a devil's bargain to me: you trade lower housing costs for an hour or more lost to the commute every working day, since most of us don't get to work from home. That's one of the absolute proven detriments to happiness for everyone but those very few people who love driving during rush hour.
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When the gas prices hit their last peak, it caused a reverse housing crisis in some of the Twin Cities exurbs: new housing developments sitting empty for lack of interest.
Living in an exurb always seemed like a devil's bargain to me: you trade lower housing costs for an hour or more lost to the commute every working day, since most of us don't get to work from home. That's one of the absolute proven detriments to happiness for everyone but those very few people who love driving during rush hour.
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