Counterpoint: work towards a long-term solution could have been started during the last US oil crisis. Or the one before that. Or the one before, and so on. It's been at least 50 years to start fixing stuff, and apparently all Americans can do until this day is whine about one of the lowest-per-median-income oil prices in the World.

Gasoline prices. Urban sprawl. Climate change. Oil dependency and peak oil. Air and noise pollution. Traffic congestion. The lack of affordable housing. Income inequality. Redlining. Cities being in debt. Health issues from lack of exercise. All of these issues are interconnected, and they all stem from overly-restrictive zoning laws as well as infrastructure that fosters car dependency.

We got ourselves into this mess back in the mid 20th century through shitty policies. We can get ourselves out of this mess with better policies that focusing on smart growth. We need higher-density, walk-able, bike-able, transit-oriented, mixed-use development instead of sprawling "R1"-zoned neighborhoods fully separated from gigantic shopping centers that are 80% parking lot and loads of stroads and freeways connecting it all.

The U.S. population is expected to grow by at least another 70 million by 2050. Those people are going to need places to live, work, and shop. We better start thinking smartly about future growth or our current problems are going to get worse.Think $4/gallon is bad? Peak oil will make that seem dirt cheap one day, to say nothing of climate change. The current status quo or car-dependent suburbia is not sustainable. Fixing existing cities will take a long time, but new developments can start being done better right now.