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The foremost problem which the American consumer is currently facing with respect to what is increasingly being called the "energy crisis" is the high cost of fuel required to power personal automobiles. Insomuch that the transportation industry is taking the lead in pioneering the use of bio-fuels, the American consumer is for all intents and purposes at the same time complacent and concerned, a dichotomy to be sure, because they do not appear to be taking a practical consensus-based approach to addressing the issue by saying only that they care and not acting on it.

When President Bush stood before the people in 2002 to inform them that by 2012 the U.S. would likely be meeting its energy requirements by buying 72 percent of its fossil fuels from foreign sources, the people heard him but they weren't listening. The next year, the best selling vehicle in the country was still the big pickup truck. The Ford F-Series pickup truck maintained that spot for over two decades leading to 2007 and that year saw the Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck place second in overall sales of new vehicles.

The lack of direct application by consumers to affect the amount of fuel purchased by driving only economical vehicles may be a reflection of the independent freedom of choice exercised by U.S. citizens as a constitutionally guaranteed right, but they are making it patently obvious that they are content to rely on Uncle Sam to somehow bail them out of this mess which their thirst for gasoline has put them in, sort of a socialist accommodation to their stubbornly selfish claim to freedom and independence.

One logical approach to resolving high energy costs, which would result in an increase in its availability, is through legislation targeted against private automobiles with engines larger than four cylinders and by placing a legal limit on their displacement. Another would be in providing some real incentives for adapting vehicles to use bio-fuels or other alternative sources of energy to offset the high cost. The government must show that it is serious in applying some real strategies to combat the high cost of fuel and to reduce dependence on foreign sources.

One might think that ideally, complete energy independence would solve all of America's energy problems, but just because dependence on foreign sources is eliminated does not necessarily make the fuel any more accessible to the consumer. Not only that, one wonders whether the strategy of reducing the dependency which the oil producing nations have had on the United States for a great portion of their revenues in the past would actually be a counter-productive measure. Would the OPEC nations be only too willing to raise the cost of oil if they could not meet their fiscal planning quotas, and how would this impact on developing nations who need a cheap source of oil? It is conceivable that an oil glut in the Middle East in the near future could very well turn the classical concept of price structure as it is tied to supply and demand on its head.

What is becoming clear is that application of a new ideology of responsible consumerism combined with strategic government initiatives to address the global need for cheap fuel sources is paramount to the success of the global community. Less needed is for Americans to turn inward in defiance of fair practice and simply continue buying their big pickup trucks. These are the priorities which should be addressed before the miracle of energy independence can be realized. This concern should be manifested globally, because America is not the only greedy culprit in the struggle for economic superiority.

Learn more about this author, Steve Lussing.
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