That of which we shall not speak

Mark Fiore wrote a good animated cartoon last week about our devotion to Petrotheism (virtual religion based on fossil fuel).
People in the US just love those enormous SUVs. Yes, personal choice is an important aspect of any free society, but benighted ignorance of the affects your choices have on the rest of society--indeed the entire world--doesn't promote freedom. It could be your personal choice to throw your trash on the side of the road, but most people don't do that because they realize it affects everyone's life negatively. Somehow, though, drivers in the US fail to make a connection between their purchase of a vehicle that gets 10 mpg, and the price of gas everyone pays. SUV sales are reportedly falling, but not because of a sudden growth of conscience by the American driving public.
Unfortunately, people also fail to make the connection between their choice of vehicle and global political realities. Buying that new Hummer indirectly affects US government political decisions and drives us into military conflicts where we need not be. It also makes us vulnerable to both natural disasters like the recent hurricane and terrorist or military attack. The fact that closure of one port city in the US had a global impact on the price and availability of petrol should serve as a wake up call to consumers and politicians. But of course it won't.