What are we really doing about our oil consumption?

Since Brisbane's looming water crisis was announced, water consumption has reduced by 15%.

But the rapid jump in petrol prices seems to have only lead to complaints about the big oil companies and a reduction in the sales of big four wheel drives.

Jonathon Jutsen points out that Australia's "oil self- sufficiency has already fallen to less than 60%, and like America, we stand to be at best 40% self-sufficient by 2010!".

He argues that we should introduce:
- Fuel efficiency standards for new vehicles,
- Taxes or incentives to accelerate the retirement of large engine vehicles,
- Encourage the increased use of alternative vehicle fuels, particularly ethanol in the short term.
- Once these measures are implemented we could consider incentives for use of hybrid and high efficiency diesel vehicles.

Fortune has a story on The birth of the Toyota Prius which points out that the hybrid model is currently Toyota;s best selling car in the USA.