Industry contributes to some of the problems however, by creating markets that thrive on short term trends without regard to future impacts of those markets.

Americans have a problem called the "bigger is better" syndrome. Think about it. If it costs a lot of money and people know it costs a lot of money, "we" want it. So, when Hummer H2s came out, they cost upwards of 60 grand and used a ton of expensive gas. Well, you know as well as I do, people had to have them. I lived on the same street with a guy who took out a second mortgage on his house just so he could "impress the ladies" (his words) by driving a Hummer. The same thing happened with all of the large, luxury SUVs. I mean really, a sport utiity vehicle was originally designed to carry people and their sporting goods to hard to reach areas like the woods. Well, can't really do that with 22 inch chromes now can ya? Many Americans in general aren't rational when it comes to vehicle choices. So, what does the auto industry do? They capitalize on the trends. They build larger and larger vehicles without any consideration to long term affects. "Hey, I've got an idea for a new vehicle. It will be the largest, vechicle in our fleet, people will have to have it so that they can say they have the largest SUV on the block. It will cost a ton of money too, but people will have to buy it because it is a status thing. It will get about 8 miles to the gallon. Heck, they won't even be able to park it in a normal garage or parking space. We'll call it the Ford Excursion!!" You know what? People did buy them. Some made the excuse that they needed a large vehicle to carry their kids around. Seems like every time I saw one of those 8 passenger vehicles, it was occupied by one person, the driver. I just don't get it! Well, all those people who just had to have the Hummer, Escalade, Excursion, Tahoe, etc. are hating their cars now I'm sure, especially with people giving them looks like they are sucking up all the gas for the rest of us. I knew the SUV bomb would come sooner or later. Now people are complaining about not being able to afford gas for their SUVs. I don't have a sympathetic bone in me for anyone who purchased one of these behemouths unless it was for a work-related need. There were/are plenty of other options out there for family haulers. Station wagons, mini vans, etc.

Sorry for the rant, but some things just really annoy me. People need to start taking accountablilty for things instead of relying on other people or the government to come bail them out.