Carol, I wasn't sure where the California story had come from and I was just poking around...mostly because it really interested me. I stopped looking just because I got side tracked by those other stories (mostly about Sweden's efforts to move away from nuclear power to renewable energy sources). I hope you don't mind all my follow up questions, but I am so pleased to get your answers. My kneejerk reaction is that obtaining natural gas would affect the environment as much as obtaining oil...e.g. drilling and transport...although I gotta admit I've never heard of a natural gas spill. Is gas "harvesting" similar to oil "harvesting"? Is it just not as widely used because of the cost? (I'm assuming its more costly)

Jon, I didn't get an answer to your question about emmissions, but I was poking around a bit at the following sites:
Automobile Emissions: An Overview
http://www.epa.gov/OMSWWW/05-autos.htm

Auto Emmissions ranking:
http://www.epa.gov/autoemissions/

The impression that I get is that emmission standards are ranked on a percentage, so I think a car could have a lower percentage but burn more fuel, resulting in a greater net amount of pollutants. Emmission standards are getting stricter but like I said, I see your point.

Kendall, be careful the oil companies are watching you now :) Seriously, the oil companies sell to retailers...they don't care what the retailers charge, they just care what they get to charge the retailer. I can see making a case that the oil companiess may fix prices...but disabling websites for local gas stations...really. No gas station drills its oil locally. That's like saying a supplier to the diamond market would be worried if you got earrings on sale at the jewelery store.