I kicked an SUV today

What astounds me is the ability that people have to be able to stand perfectly comfortably within a clear contradiction. I've been hearing a lot about this belly-aching about the rising cost of gasoline, and how the oil companies are doing it ON PURPOSE, because there is "plenty" of supply and it is simply the oil companies choosing to refine less crude that is causing the artificially rising prices at the pump. People are calling into radio and TV shows lamenting how much harder it is for them to pay for gasoline, how much harder it is to get around, how they've had to think of alternative ways to transport themselves from here to there, how they've had to curtail or change vacation plans because of the price at the pumps.
Um, hello? Isn't this a good thing? Aren't we also the society that cares desperately about climate change? Aren't we also the ones who are wanting to lighten our environmental footsteps on the earth? Aren't we the ones who are trying to practice the "Three Rs"? It is starting to disgust me how people are complaining on public radio that they can't get around and now, heaven forbid, they have to take public transport or bicycle to where they need to go, and how the government has to do "something" to make gasoline more affordable.
Considering we are only now starting to get a glimpse about the "real" cost of food and oil, I suspect our society is not willing to cut back on the frivolous (ie. entertainment and diversions) in order to pay for the necessities, when push really comes to shove...