Convincing America of the need to abandon oil as America's main energy source is one area where Mr. Obama's inspirational charisma will bear fruit. He has the ability and (soon will have the pulpit) to make the public case of the need for alternatives development (now) even though the price has subsided due to decreased demand. The price may have subsided but the supply remains a dwindling resource. Better we take the steps to make America independent of oil today and not try to do it when all hell has broken loose on multiple dangerous fronts of concern. I think the gas tax might be one way to insure we do not forget how much we hated five dollar a gallon gas. It would deal with the camp that is squawking about deficit spending and how we can pay for a revolutionary infrastructure project as economic stimulus. I also think we should legalize marijuana and tax it to realize a another revenue stream; one which I think the government is already complicit in. I also think that more can be done with prison labor concerning public works projects, manifesting rehabilitation through skills acquisition all while minimizing labor cost. The entire society needs to be redesigned, rethought, and revitalized. I do not know if such visionary and courageous thinking exists in Washington. Vision and courage are needed now more than ever. The same old thing is no longer acceptable as an answer for the challenges we collectively face.

We need to get off fossil fuels period. Whether oil is $40 a barrel or $120. There's only a finite supply and one day it's going away. In the meantime, it's poisoning the planet. Oil producing countries will have to find another way to generate revenue. Oil is blood money.

I havent been convinced that the drop in oil prices is all from demand. The price of oil dropped before demand dropped when the economic crisis was in its very early stages. In fact, I remember reading that oil demand in the US dropped over a 3 month period last spring when the price was still shooting up. I'm sure there was a lot of money in oil futures that was pulled out either in anticipation of oil price drops or just in anticipation of the need of cash with the looming economic crisis. Think of Enron when considering how much money could be in oil futures (and how much money could be lost by delayed exit from the market). The price of oil before the 2006 election did not drop until George Bush out of the blue, and against all previous stated intentions, said he was going to to release oil from the US reserve. The price did not significantly go up after the election till George stated, again out of the blue, that he was going to double the size of the US reserves. The US reserves would not significantly affect supply and demand but it could significantly affect certainty in the market, enough to cause a withdrawal. It certainly would be a safer bet for big money to be in the very opaque oil futures market if they had connections in the White House and had advanced warning on issues that could affect the market..

"The main reason? In good times and bad, oil will continue to supply the largest share of the world's energy supply. For all the talk of alternatives, petroleum will remain the number one source of energy for at least the next several decades."

FALSE.

It's up to us.

Solar and wind with Hybrid vehicles can replace 90% of oil, and all coal and nukes in far less than 10 years.