Fuel prices certainly have our attention these days. Either filling your tank or staying warm this winter, you're feeling the pinch of exaggerated prices. If you lived through the last oil crisis in the 1970s, you know this routine. You can carpool, take the bus, consolidate your trips, ride a bike and, of course, walk. You can turn the thermostat down, wear a sweater, or chop some wood.

But let's look at the bigger picture. This current oil "crisis" does not have to exist. There are so many alternatives to warmth and transportation that it's ludicrous (and lucrative, for some) that we cling to the current inefficient and dirty system.

Our addiction to the black goop didn't start until 1859, when the first oil well was punched into the earth in Titusville, Pa. It didn't come into sprawling fruition until after World War II, with the Eisenhower interstate system. Since then an artificial dependency on oil has been fostered by a number of industries (petroleum, automobile, plastic, rubber, concrete, asphalt, etc.) that get wealthy from it. Like tobacco companies, they've worked hard to keep us dependent on their product.

Along the way, they (and we) have polluted the environment, destroyed the ozone, and assailed our own health. Not to mention, we've paid far too much attention to volatile parts of the world that might otherwise mean no more than a National Geographic special.

Oil use can be compared to painkillers. One Vicodin can be effective, useful and make life easier. Thirty a day can destroy you. Reasonable use of crude can enhance our lives. Excessive use, except for the relative few who make lots of money from it, has us over an oil barrel.

However did we get by without the crude oil umbilical cord? We managed in the past and we'll do it better in the future. We can create healthy environments and smarter transportation options. Imagine if our leaders challenged us to cut our oil use in half in a decade, as John Kennedy challenged us to put man on the moon. Many of the technologies exist already; others are waiting to be developed and almost all mean new, cleaner industries and jobs. Imagine that the transportation choices available in the 1920s still existed. There were trolley lines between Cooperstown and Richfield Springs, rail lines to Albany and Oneonta and walking paths between villages. If they and safe bike routes were available throughout the county, then the price of oil wouldn't be quite so important and we'd all stand a chance of being more active and healthier.

America is synonymous with freedom and freedom of movement is fundamental. But what kind of freedom is it that favors only one kind of transportation? There's nothing free about being tethered to a gas pump.

Brenda Berstler is the founder of the Walking Example Group (WE-GO) a non-profit organization encouraging walking and walkable communities. Visit their website at www.we-go.org.