Long-term effects of high energy prices

Charles Wheelan, The Naked Economist:

[...] In the "long run", everything is up for grabs -- where we live, how we live, how we get around, and even where we go. Smart folks ought to start thinking about what happens when energy prices are four or five times what they've been for most of the automobile age. It's not rocket science: Prices go up, and rational people and firms try to avoid those higher costs. [...]