Most people agree it would be wise to get off the oil addiction. Lots of possibilities are seen here. Jobs in solar/wind technology, cleaner electric and hybrid cars, especially ones like the plug-in Volt where the engine only runs when the battery drains.

But I see more short-term thinking that will have us having a big crisis in the future.

Remember how taxing luxury yachts destroyed the domestic yacht building industry?

Remember how subsidizing corn-based ethanol caused food prices to go up?

How are we going to pay for our roads if we are migrating to using next to no gasoline? Even now the Highway Trust Fund doesn't pay all the costs of highway construction and maintenance (that the fund your federal gas taxes go into).

I'm curious what people in THIS forum think about that.

Let's say we do great things and actually DO end our dependence on foreign oil. Let's say we've cut back gasoline usage by half or more (a Volt with a 40 mile range would mean my commute would be 2/3 all electric and 1/3 running with the generator operating).

Where do we get the money to pay for where these wunder-cars go? Locally it's property taxes and other assessments for local roads, but the problem does exist on the state level as well.

Comments?