In the spring of 1978, I followed a truck down the interstate.  It was no accident that I was on the heels of this transport -- in fact, you might say I had been stalking it across country.  Perched on the double-decker was a collection of small pickups and sedans, but dangling right at the end of the truck bed was a vehicle I'd been stalking across the country through obsessive phone calls.  A tiny silver car with the hood and windshield still covered over in plastic wrap.  It was literally the first Mazda RX-7 to make it east of the Mississippi, and when that truck stopped at a dealership, I was there to buy it before the car had even touched the ground.  I handed over the keys to my unreliable (but darn cute) Fiat X-1/9 and drove off in the first new car I had ever owned.  I was in love.

From that day till this, I've owned an assortment of vehicles as un-cool as a Ford Aerostar van (which spit out its transmission in the most inconvenient place imaginable) and as neat as my new Toyota Prius (the second new car I ever owned).  But while I've had a fondness for some of these vehicles, they were only passing affairs.  The little silver RX-7 still sits in storage unit back in Kentucky, waiting for those summer days when I bring it out into the sunshine and play at being a college student again.

But honey, I hate to break it to you:  you're going up on eBay.  I've found a new love.

With oil in the $75 range, and poised to go higher at any moment (the current crisis extends into Iran?  Rebels in Nigeria?  A deepening chill with Venezuela?  Russia gets tired of being talked to like a three year old? Mexico runs dry? Take your pick.), American automakers have responded by... designing new large SUVs.  It's hard to blame them, when there's little evidence that American consumers have shown any willingness to drive around in vehicles occupying less than an acre of road space.  

In fact, despite the rising costs of fuel, statistics out last week show that the average MPG grew from 21 MPG in 2005 to.... 21 MPG in 2006.  

But if there's one sure thing, it's that it will get worse.  As Jerome a Paris has detailed in his series of diaries, there's every evidence that the post-Katrina rise in oil prices is only a prelude to what's to come.  There's little to no capacity for expansion on the production end of the pipe, and an ever greater demand sucking at the other end.  You couldn't ask for a better formula for demonstrating the effects of supply and demand on prices.  Forget "price gouging."  That's only a distraction.  Oil prices are going to go up, and there's next to nothing any president or congress can do to prevent it.

So... what then?  Do we have to sit and take it on the chin?  Just exactly what are the options?  How will you get to work five years from now?  How about ten?

We all love the idea of riding a bike to work.  It's the reality that's not as fun.  Not only do you have to deal with the ignorance of drivers who think bicycle is a synonym for speed bump, you have to suffer through cold weather, rain, snow, bugs, and dust. Even if you live close enough to your workplace to consider two-wheeling it, these kind of problems often mean arriving by bike becomes unthinkable for at least part of the year.

But hold on, what if you could peddle your way to work in an enclosed, rain-free vehicle.  A vehicle with a comfortable seat, your iPod tunes playing on the stereo, and maybe even an electrical assist to get you up the tougher slopes?

What if you could drive a velomobile?
     

The third draft of the Energize America proposal for a Democratic energy plan is now up over at DailyKos.

Believe me, I'd not normally use this space just to trumpet a diary, but this is not an ordinary diary.  Energize America represents not only a comprehensive energy plan, it also represents something of a first triel for "open source politics," in which a group submits ideas publically, works through the revisions, resubmits, and continues with the ultimate goal of getting Democratic law makers to sign on to the plan.

This plan has grown tremendously over the course of a month, but we still have a long way to go.  And we need your help!  Please take a look.