I am also a big believer in ultra narrow vehicles (UNVs) – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commuter_Cars_Tango. This would not only help to reduce oil consumption but provide immediate relief to our traffic problems. You would also never have a problem finding parking space!
There are kits that allow you to modify a diesel engine into one that runs on vegetable oil. This is a little more grass-rootsy, but it is possible and fairly inexpensive.
I honestly think that we need to cure our addiction to oil from the bottom up, because the politicians are certainly not going to do anything about it. They will sponsor a study or research of some sort to calm their constituency, but nothing ever really gets done. Why else would Brazil be ahead of us?
