Inevitably when the price of gas rises, drivers cry foul and the call comes to govern­ments to alleviate the pain, in the form of reducing taxes on gas.

However, the idea that govern­ments should lower taxes on gas in response to globally increasing demand outstripping an increas­ingly unstable supply is a misguided approach that treats the symptom but ignores the cause of the problem: our reliance on oil.

Technologies like hybrids and modern diesels will help us reduce our reliance on oil for our personal trans­portation, and should be embraced by the public. I drive a Volkswagen TDI and it gets amazing mileage. I average between 900 and 1,000 kilometres per 55L tank. Generally it costs about $45 at today’s prices to fill up.