There are lots of good ideas in this thread, in my opinion. It is absolutely true that Americans tend to overconsume oil, especially with the new tendancy to drive these megabeast vehicles that really make very little sense. ie the SUV. I would like to see the price of gasoline go up here in the US to encourage Americans to act more responsibly with our consumption.

I do, however, take some exception to the concept of nationalizing these oil companies. I have yet to see something taken over by our government that proves to be more efficient, better, or less expensive than it would be in private enterprise. In fact, it seems to be quite the opposite.