First point: seruzawa, I'm not disagreeing with you, just using your post as a starting block...
I don't understand how the environmentalist think that somehow these other sources of energy will just magically appear, even if we fund them from the public till (I'm sure they're plenty funded)...
Should we find other sources of energy? WE HAVE OTHER SOURCES OF ENERGY. They're just not to the level, yet, where it's economically viable to implement them.
People want us to use electric cars. Well, if I didn't need to recharge for 6 hours every hundred miles, I would do so. I might want a hybrid, but what am I going to do when I want to tow my bike up to a trackday (full disclosure: I don't have a car, but will be buying a jeep wrangler this year)...
The simple fact is, people like SUV's. And for a lot of things, they're useful. Most people don't get that use out of them, but there's no reason that we should find some way to take their SUV's away. When the automakers can come up with a good, powerful, long-range engine running on alternative power (I think it'll have to be fuel cell, but that's just me), or when gas gets sufficiently scarce that the prices get too high, then we'll be there. Until then, no amount of complaining is going to get normal people to buy products that aren't as good (i.e. lower power and higher cost).
For me to make the switch, we'll need an alternative energy vehicle that meets my needs, and is as cheap or cheaper to run than a gas-powered vehicle. For example, I want a Jeep Wrangler. If you can put a fuel cell in that sucker, and give me a powerful enough engine that I can occasionally go off-road in it, then I'll buy it. Until then, it's the standard 4.0L dinosaur engine they stick in there...
Brad