The only actual 'flaw" in hydrogen is the lack of distribution infrastructure (hydrogen stations) and the potentially dangerous storage under pressure.

I don't think the gov has much actual control over the gas prices (aside from juggling taxes). TO say that the oil companies are still making the same profit as a percentage is just ludacris. As someone stated Q1 rofits this year are already way above last years.

A point no one has touched on is the other effects of having such a petrol driven world. In the US ~30% of kid now suffer from asthma and other respiratory problems are getting worse and worse. The environmental impact is not one to be taken lightly. Even if we have 25-50 years of oil left, do we have 25-50 years of healthly living left following the current trend?

Another excellent point is that far too many people are crusading about cars, where houses and businesses get most of their power from hydrocarbon fueled power plants. Having an electric car, while better than direct pertrol based, still uses hydrocarbon based fuels to provide the electricity.

The real solution lies in sources of energy that are cheap and lentiful. Solar and wind could be used to reduce the footprint of hydrocarbon based fuels, reduce building based enerygy costs (greatly) thus stimulating the ecomomy as well as creating a job market for solar/wind installers/consultants/etc.

My quick calculations could produce a solar/wind powered US (as far as homes and businesses) for at most 2 trillion dollars. THis number is conservativly high and takes no gov incentives/rebates into account. This sounds like a lot of money, but it does not need to all be paid at once, like the Iraq occupation (stopping being a war a looong time ago) we can slolwy pay into this project to complete it over the next 5 or so years.

Using grid tie systems to make sure few power plant workers lose their jobs as the power plant will still function to distribute the power as usual, but now the power will be generated off site from the plant itself. The plant can be fired as needed to fill in gaps of energy should they occur.