Finger pointing rarely has the intended result of making people take action, though NOLA's point is valid and one that I have believed from the beginning of the proposed rally, needs further discussion. We need people fighting the good fight of protecting our beaches to the best of our abilities, AND we need education and policies on how we can reduce the pressure on the extraction of our non-renewable resources.
Our high standard of living makes us the greatest energy consumer in the world, though that extra energy consumption hasn't necessarily equated to a better quality of life. As soon as I can find the stats on this, I'll post. With an increasing population and everyone in the world aspiring to our standard of living, energy security will continue to be a priority. The greatest challenge humans currently face is figuring out a way to reduce our energy consumption while achieving (in the case of developing countries) and maintaining quality of life standards.
Personal transportation vehicles are only a small part of the energy problem. A greater percentage of a barrel of oil actual goes to the production of diesel for on and off road transportation - think agriculture and shipping. So our food choices, building material choices, and consumption patterns, are equally as important as our mode of transportaion. Higher fuel efficient cars are not the silver bullet to reduce energy use. The way we inhabit the land has an even greater effect. We use less resources when we develop land in ways that allow us to live closer to the things we need.