Perhaps, America has finally dug itself a hole it can't get out of in its insatiable thirst for oil.

Reflecting on the May 3, 2008 editorial from the Roanoke Times, "A Civic Beats a Hummer," Americans are realizing at long last that they can't drive gas hogs, and feel like the "King of the Road," without paying a price. They're turning in the keys to SUVs in Florida and elsewhere in droves, where dealerships aren't accepting the vehicles any longer. We saw a similar effect from the oil embargo in the 1970's, and our policies didn't change.

The blame can be spread from the top on down.

The Times editorial says it all when referencing environmentalists from years past urging the government to raise prices to reduce demand - "Set it high enough, they argued, and people will consume less. That idea never went anywhere...They only had to wait."

What will it take for Americans to consume less electricity? No doubt utilities will try to take advantage of a severe shortage by spiking prices, and by continuing to tell us the cheapest source for generating energy is coal. Let's hope the cap and trade system regarding greenhouse emissions, and the revenues derived from the penalties, will make it too expensive for producers of electricity to continue on the same old path, and that those same revenues will actually go towards forms of renewable energy.

In the meantime, we will continue to grumble, just like we have about gasoline prices, but until we really feel the pain, will we commit to making the changes necessary?

All Americans need to educate themselves on legislation before Congress dealing with future energy supply; such as the Lieberman-Warner bill which addresses cap and trade, as well as many others. An excellent source is The Library of Congress website: http://thomas.loc.gov/

We can't wait. We have no choice.