It’s no longer about painful spikes in gasoline prices endangering the family’s day-trip to Lake Winnipesaukee, it’s about survival. We are a nation under attack on two fronts and in both cases we are complicit enablers in our own potential demise. On one hand we have the rapid decline of our environment precipitated by our constant, unchecked creation of green house gases, and on the other, a middle-eastern cauldron of dangerous geo-political forces hellbent on our destruction all financed by oil money — much of it being paid them by us. We need to regain control of our own destiny. Relying on market forces is insane. Prices are manipulated, up and down, by Saudi Arabia and the oil cartel to to maximize their profits and quell our dissent.

There appears to be only one solution to this catastrophe: a nasty, pernicious and painful gas tax that will drive gasoline prices to heretofore unseen levels. Take the tax revenue squeezed from every red-blooded American’s fuel consumption and roll it into alternative energy research and technology. Fast-track the whole damn project. Forget pathetic attempts at lowering emissions by 20 or 25% by 2020. The game will be over. Do it now. It will hurt, but in the long run we will all breathe easier.