Black Market
Question
As much as people and governments are worried about dependencies on oil and the health of the country, why doesn't the government hike the taxes on gas and tobacco products to make the public find other alternatives? Because, the public will find other alternatives.
Economics 101
First of all, there are high taxes on gas and tobacco. More than half the cost of tobacco and nearly half the cost of gas at the pump is tax. The government has a hard time telling people to stop smoking because the government depend heavily on the tax revenue the addiction brings to the coffers. The same is true with gasoline. Alternative fuels will not take over the market until they are economically superior to gasoline. Until governments can receive the same amount of revenue by replacing gas, we will use gas. That is it. There just is not any more to it.
Now, think about increasing the taxes on tobacco. If the government doubles their revenue on Tobacco, it will take twice as much effort to get government to get rid of tobacco.
Again, the same goes for gas. Europeans keep saying "jack up the taxes on gas and people will find alternative fuels." Well, that is not entirely accurate. Economics professors will tell you that people will find alternative means of obtain gasoline, not alternatives to gasoline itself. That means a black market.
To be honest, I bet if OPEC jacked up the price of crude oil for a long period, with no end in sight, the motivation for alternative fuels would finally com about.
Music Industry
A totally new example is what is happening to the music industry in the western world right now. They are watching their means of existence crumble from under them. For the last sixty or eighty years, the entertainment industry put most of their time and resources in charging for recordings instead of live acting. Live acting has been around since before written language. People have charged to entertain ever since we have stood up on two legs.
Well, this is a new example,except perhaps for what the automobile industry did to hors drawn carriages, or maybe what the steam ship did to the sailing vessel. Now, that is a clean alternative fuel.

Random Gripe about taxes
Consider when you go to the pump the next time that nearly .60 cents of the cost is tax. Add that cost to your income tax and sales tax. Oh, and don't forget property tax. Then there are the eight taxes on your phone line. It just makes me ill. Now they want to add hidden VAT (Value Added Taxes) to everything you buy including food. VAT taxes are particularly nasty, because they are in the cost (to the consumer), not listed separately on the ticket at time of purchase.

Lunch after
My friend and I went to Chili's instead of the Alamo Draft House. We ate good food and had a good time. I kind of missed going to the movies and having a beer. It is St. Patrick's day. I did have a Guniess at Chili's. That counts.

Songs
http://www.radioparadise.com/modules.php?name=songinfo&song_id=2134
Artist:Ray Wylie Hubbard
Song:Conversation with the Devil
Album:Crusades of the Restless Knights

http://www.radioparadise.com/modules.php?name=songinfo&song_id=31053
Artist:Richard Thompson
Song:Beeswing 
Album:Action Packed