Gas guzzling caused by our "reptilian brain"?

Irrational exuberance versus rationality

The article Green is in, but power won't go out states, "We may be going light and green in search of fuel economy, but we still need to drive. And Americans want to feel safe, empowered and secure on the road. The automobile remains a lust object -- though we approach it with a little more paranoia these days. No matter what we drive, researcher and industry consultant Clotaire Rapaille says our reptilian brain -- imagine the natural need a young mother has to protect a new child -- will always be engaged behind the wheel."

Sure a large vehicle might make consumers feel safer, but does foreign oil dependency make America safer? Does it make the economy stronger? Isn't it time the reptilian brains of American consumers evolve beyond such primal, instinctive egocentrism before we go the way of those other great reptiles, the dinosaurs?

Isn't it time for a revolution in our evolution as consumers?