How to Kick the Oil Habit

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The one thing that will probably cushion the blow of this new and permanent energy crisis is something old, with an air about it of discomfort and duty: conservation. There's nothing particularly sexy or chic about consolidating shopping trips, carpooling, turning the thermostat down in winter and up in summer, or biking to the office and back, but it does work. In the early '80s, in the midst of soaring oil prices, we doubled the average efficiency of cars, furnaces and insulation. Katrina and Rita might not have pushed us into another energy-crisis mind-set yet. With the inevitable price jolts to come, though, we're heading that way soon enough.