U.S. addiction to oil puts it at mercy of risky characters

The San Francisco Chronicle has an excellent article titled U.S. addiction to oil puts it at mercy of risky characters. It said that the gas tax in the US is too low -- not enough discourage the use of inefficient vehicles, and definitely not enough to create and maintain a mass-transit system. To achieve that would need at around $1 to $3 per gallon. That is so not happening. Can you imagine the US public suddenly ditches their SUVs and goes gung-ho on public transportation, plus advocates a high gas tax to support that? To me that's like seeing the sun rise on the west!