Energy Independent Yet Car Dependent

I drove to work today solo, as I missed the last bus this morning having overslept and I was in no mood to ride the bicycle again. Furthermore, I drove myself and a friend to a restaurant for lunch, where we overheard a woman at the next table tell her friends how she had to get that new Highlander in the parking lot after having her first baby. As we exited the restaurant and admired her beautiful new rig, we wondered why, now that her family was one unit larger, her family needed seven new seats.

I really don't know how this nation is going to become energy independent while remaining so car dependent. I don't think these two can be, or more precisely ought to be, reconciled. I drove the car today because I slept too long. She drove a bigger car today because she needed more space for her 18-month-old. These are discretionary actions carried out by people with discretionary incomes and are being woven further into the collective fabric of American life. That is, this lady will only require more per-unit energy to move around in the future as her Highlander becomes used, at which point she'll be out buying the next new rig to shuttle her and her child around Sacramento.

This evening I again watched another commercial on TV touting the "greenness" of a particular model of car...how you would "save the environment" if you only bought one of them.
The myth of energy independence and car dependent. I don't see it happening.