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If only it could work like the TV switch to digital that is coming in Feb. People had plenty of time to get used to cable. Then digital satellite. The majority of people have one or the other. Now, for the past year, everyone has been warned that analog antennae will stop working and have been offered the choice to get themselves a converter or a new TV.
That's not to say that when some people wake up and find their TV sets no longer work, that there will not be some complaining and "why didn't someone tell me?" But all-in-all, I think the switch to digital has been handled smoothly and was well managed for a decade. There has not been a sudden panic and rush to convert everyone at the last minute.
However, I see a different path for alt fuel unless a plan is put into place by someone brave and powerful enough to do it. Unless alt fuel is phased in gradual steps toward a common goal, I see it suddenly becoming a crisis when it finally seeps into the US consciousness that we are running out of oil.
There has to be a carrot. People happily switched to cable or satellite TV because it offered something much better than what they could pull out of the air. Telling them that switching to alt fuel is better for the economy / environment / future political stability is too esoteric. We need a carrot big enough to hit people over the head with, such as better vehicle performance than with gasoline, the coolest cars only come with alt fuel capability, and/or rock stars start driving them.
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