Motor fuel prices have got Americans in their grip again. Finding regular gas under $3 takes some looking. And diesel fuel, which drives the trucking industry, is 30 cents (or more) above regular.

The $50 fill-up, after taking a too-short vacation, is back.

Could things get worse? Yes, considering that pump prices aren't yet at record levels but crude oil prices are. Even after a recent price dip, refiners who buy their oil by the barrel are forking over about $90.

Pump prices don't always jump in lockstep with crude oil, and this has been one of those times. Credit goes to relatively sluggish demand for gasoline, which depresses the pump price a bit. But sooner or later we'll have to pay the pipeline. And with world oil production running nearly flat-out, any new hiccup could send crude so high that consumer prices for fuel would really soar, lightening wallets and dragging down economies.

What's a driver to do? Or a gas-guzzling country?

Missed signals

More than we've been doing, for sure. Despite urgent price signals from the pump, Americans keep buying vehicles high on the horsepower. Detroit (and Nagoya and Munich, etc.) are happy to keep the V-8s coming. And we haven't significantly cut down on our driving.

In the larger picture, energy-producing industries are at odds with energy-consuming ones. Congress, even under this year's new management, can't agree on higher mileage standards for new cars. The Bush administration hasn't made conservation a top priority. It has bet instead on supply-side projects such as opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, an endlessly divisive enterprise that wouldn't do much to lower prices anyway.

And whether world oil production has already peaked or is just getting to the tipping point, the output outlook is gloomy. The easy-to-extract oil has been found. Yes, we can wring more out of the Arctic, but only at high cost. And rising consumption in India, China and other rapidly growing economies drastically raises the estimates for oil demand in coming decades. Will nearly every Chinese or Indian have a car? Why not? -- we do.

Lots of talk about energy conservation and alternate-fuel technologies has produced too little action. Some of the blame falls on vehicle buyers enamored of speed and power. But it's just as true that, as with oil production, the easy mileage gains have been made. Detroit, alas, hasn't been hiding a magic 50-mpg "fuel saver" pill all these years.

Realistically, vehicle weights can come down -- but lighter materials cost more. Gasoline-electric hybrids do get better mileage, but the system adds manufacturing complexity. "Plug in" hybrids promise further fuel saving, but the battery package isn't fully up to speed. Vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells, the Bush administration's favorite answer, have a pie-in-the-sky flavor -- the technology is costly and the required infrastructure changes immense.

Raising fuel taxes to reduce demand, a favorite notion of policy-makers and pundits who don't run for office, is a non-starter with the public.

CAFE society

So Congress is seriously considering only one mileage option (besides more ethanol fuel -- a whole 'nother subject). That is to raise the CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standards, which have been stuck in park for many years.

Versions of the energy bill now being reconciled behind closed doors on Capitol Hill propose two different sets of requirements on automakers. The tougher Senate version mandates that each maker's new cars and light trucks reach a fleet average of 35 mpg by 2020 (a 40 percent increase over today). The rival version retains separate auto and (lower) truck requirements, and thus goes easier on pickup-producing Detroit.

Conserving through CAFE standards is inefficient at best and puts pressure on vehicle prices. Still, passage by Congress of either version of the bill would be incremental progress.

The better answer is alert consumers. Sure, oil prices may fall some. But what are the odds we'll see sub-$2 gas again?

The free market -- or the oil industry's approximation of one-- is speaking. Drive higher-mileage vehicles, it says, and drive less. Take public transit if you can, and create more transit options. Remember that much of the oil we use hails from lands ruled by despots who wish us no good. Buying less of it pinches them and increases our energy security.

For Americans, excess is as native as economy, but those who want to hold gas-pump expenses to a reasonable level will pay heed to the market's message.