Much discussion rages on about whether or not we have passed the global Hubbert Peak for oil production, but one thing is sure: oil futures remain a hot commodity, and prices at the pumps and at Wall Street continue to soar.

This is mostly to blame on the weakening dollar and rampant speculation on oil, as wealthy investors see the writing on the wall: the beginning of a recession that could be the first leg in a major global depression that dramatically re-balances global political and economic power, not to mention an almost certain Democratic landslide in both congressional and the Presidential races.

America needs to realize that access to cheap oil is NOT a God-given or a Constitutionally protected tight.

The very forces of supply and demand deny this, and yet Sen. Clinton and Sen. McCain both talk about cutting the federal gas tax as if it would be some sort of magical elixir that would lift the economy out of the doldrums.

Rather, such a move would lift the profits of the oil companies (which both politicians likely have some shares of stock in) but would only serve to push prices even higher as demand increased.

What we should consider -and I have said this before - is a steeper gas tax, much like the Europeans have. As much as $8/gal for a total pump price of $12/gal at current prices.

This need not be done in one fell swoop, but phased in to help discourage excessive speeding and superfluous driving.

Americans rarely do things out of a deliberated sense of love for the environment, nor out of any greater concern for developing cleaner and renewable energy sources for its own sake.

But we do listen to the almighty dollar, and also for convenience.

With $12/gal gas, people would choose more fuel-efficient vehicles and hybrids; American auto manufacturers would be lead to produce hyper-efficient hybrids and put concept cars like the Aptera and the Venture into major production.

We could also expand light rail from our cities into suburban areas, and perhaps even expand AmTrak to upgrade to high-speed rail (and I am not talking that sub-par, laughable “Acela” service they offer, but a train along the lines of the Japanese Bullet Train!) … trains are far more fuel efficient for moving freight and people than our current crop of cars and SUVs.

Would this cripple the economy? It would take some adjusting to get used to it, with carpools and trips carefully planned to stores and appointments to consolidate itineraries along the most efficient paths of travel.

But like it or not, we will continue to pay increasingly and painfully sharper prices for gas — it would be better to see those increases go into useful taxes that can help slacken our dependency upon oil, develop our transit infrastructure, and a crash course to sustainable (not ethanol!!) and renewable energy sources.

Of course, this is far from a perfect plan, and we would need to address the impact it would have on the working poor who must commute long distances. A possible solution might be a monthly rebate check sent to people under a certain income margin.