Sometimes I wonder if car companies are secretly run by oil companies and mechanics. How else does one explain the following contradiction?: The goal of a car company, above all else and no matter what they might say, is to make money. Options exist (e.g. the Hypercar, gas-electric hybrids, compressed-air vehicles) that would allow car companies to make money while slowing the destruction of the biosphere. I would say 9 people out of 10 enjoy whining about gas prices, even many people who make so much money it doesn't really affect them.

If so many people want vehicles that lower their fuel expenses, why do car companies continue to manufacture conventional vehicles as the overwhelming majority of their product lines? I think there a few reasons. For one, hybrids have not been profitable until recently according to car companies, presumably because the manufacturing process needed ironing out, and as greater numbers are built the pain points are easier to recognize. Another reason is that new hybrids are not easy to afford for most people (the consumer most affected by gas prices is least likely to be able to afford a hybrid). Also, some people prefer whining to actually being proactive about changing things.

My hope is that we can convince the car companies that changing all of their vehicles whose main purpose is not towing or carrying heavy inanimate loads to Hypercars or something similar would be beneficial to their bottom line and ensure they survive the transition to a non-petroleum economy. This is where the use of the strike comes in. If what I'm saying is true and we can convince the automobile manufacturer's labor unions that they might not have jobs in five years without major changes, they could attempt to use strikes to put pressure on the executives to agree to the product shift. I would imagine the executives would stick by their line of "It's too dangerous to switch without knowing what the market will be like in a few years." Or something like that.

Even if my idea makes sense, it's hard to imagine people striking about something that seems so intangible/unpredictable and isn't explicitly about pay or working conditions.