I've been thinking about this same subject for several months and I think you're absolutely right.  What really bugs me about it is that these much higher energy prices are on a collision course with our crisis of overextended credit.  With the price of everything going up, how do you punch your way out debt?

I wonder how this will affect the cost of continuing the war in Iraq?  What happens if we actually get into a crisis that even temporarily reduces production (hurricane, terrorism, war).  I keep wondering if Bin Laden is waiting for the perfect moment to make another try at Saudi production.  Were he to succeed in the next year or two the shit would really hit the fan.  It would be an economic 9/11.  We're skating on thin ice here.

There's another aspect to it that I find very worrisome.  In order to reduce our consumption of fuel some basic infrastructure changes are going to be essential.  The cities are so spread out that transportation is a huge issue here.  Reconstruction of this type uses an enormous amount of energy.  Will there be enough?  Where will we get the funds for this if money is already tight?

I also think what you said about the environment is smack on.  People haven't much worried about it in good times.  They won't give a shit about it once competition for fuel gets really tough.  The infuriating part is that all of the goals, national security, economic stability, environmental soundness have pointed for years toward the reduction of fossil fuel use and investment in alternative energy, and we've been sitting around giving the problem nothing but lip service.  The government, instead of looking ernestly into weaning us off of fossil fuels has concentrated exclusively on getting the next fix.