America is a free country. Americans have free will. We make our decisions based on free market choices. We believe that the free market doctrine of each person choosing what is best for his or her self interest optimizes our country's development economically and presumably satisfies us psychologically.

Denial
Americans know that advertising is misleading. They have known since the arrival of the Volkswagen Beetle in the United States after World War II that there are options to large cars that use excessive amounts of gasoline. Yet in the last 20 years more and more Americans continue to choose larger and larger cars with faster acceleration over smaller cars with less rapid acceleration. At the same time, fuel efficiencies have continued to improve. Volkswagen, Honda and Toyota have been making fuel efficient cars for several decades. As already stated, Honda has improved the mileage on their smallest cars (the Civic Hatchback and the hybrid Insight) by almost a factor of 2 since the Civic introduction in the 1970s.

Today, the mileage of the average car selected by Americans is slightly more than 20 miles to the gallon, little changed for two decades. For four years now, Americans have had the option of choosing cars like the Honda Insight and Toyoto Prius – cars getting three times the mileage. Yet the total number sold is less than 1/10 of 1 percent of the autos sold.

What Americans do not want to acknowledge is that they prefer comfort, convenience, speed, fashion and power over the environment. Information that may jeopardize those values is easily ignored.

Blaming Producers
Americans tend to criticize oil companies and car companies as if these companies are forcing them to drive cars and are selecting the cars they have to drive. The American economic system and its associated values support the idea of a person or persons or companies working to maximize their income within the constraints of the legal system. Puffery, exaggerated lies, is part of the business code. It is the charter and the responsibility of car companies to maximize their profits. Car companies maximize their profits by building the largest vehicles possible and by building them in large volume. Small cars, mass transportation, and car pooling injure those companies. They are doing so within the value systems of America and the laws of the land. One can expect nothing else. Experts in the field cooperate with this approach. No one got rich by telling someone to buy something cheaper and more reliable. Corporations are happy to accept the blame and promise to redeem themselves – as long as customers keep buying their products. In the world view of this culture, producers are guilty and consumers are innocent.

Americans like techno-fixes. The American psyche assumes there is a technical solution to every problem. If the solution is not here, then it is the fault of either the government or the manufacturer. The fuel cell is the ideal American techno-fix, the follow on to the fix of the last decade – the EV (electric vehicle). But like the EV, the fuel cell vehicle will be less convenient and cost more money than the ICEs. And when that occurs, the fault will be either the companies or the government. Americans will forgive themselves for their purchases of SUVs during that period.

Ignorance is Bliss
The state of oil depletion has been known since 1930 when oil discovery peaked in the lower 48 states. It was further made clear when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941 based on the US embargo of oil sales to Japan. It was noted again in February of 1945 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt guaranteed the divine right of kings in perpetuity for the countries of the Arabian Peninsula in exchange for guaranteed cheap oil.

In 1956, M. King Hubbert of Shell Oil predicted the peak production of oil in America to be around 1970 and in 1970 his prediction was validated. In 1964 worldwide oil discovery peaked. In 1978 world oil production per person reached its peak and has been declining ever since.

Recently it became clear that production has peaked for all countries outside the Middle East. Oil is a finite resource in spite of what free market advocates may claim. Yet more and more oil is used for driving – a choice made by consumers.

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