Regarding oil elasticity, I think what happened in the summer of 2008 is that we got gasoline prices into the range where some elasticity exists. Whether we like it or not, we need to keep prices in that range if we hope to have any intelligent decisions made about energy.

Open up drilling, tax it and use the tax proceeds to fund conservation/alternatives. That's pretty much what Paris Hilton said. She has a better energy plan than either major party. How bad is that?