The Energy Crisis

If everyone powered their own house with solar/wind/hydro the country could save millions in oil imports.

The average house has enough surface area on its roof for enough solar panels to power most of the house. Add wind turbines and hydro where you can and at least %50 of the country could power itself. If you have a small roof, put some panels in your back yard.

YES, they are expensive, almost prohibatively expensive, and thats a problem. Most people who can afford them don't care about saving 200-300 a month in power. \ :-(
Maybe in another 10 Years when the average temperature is 110, solar panels will be cheaper than the price of a new BMW.

Cities are a different story if they are built vertically. However, cities like NYC can make use of tidal turbines to make up for the lack of surface area for solar panels.

There are also TEC devices, also known as peltiers. If heat is applied to one side and cold the other, the device will generate a current. These might have a use in places where you have a cold water source and hot ambient temps.

Everyone needs to replace thier normal lighting with compact flourecent or better yet LED bulbs. I just bought some LED bulbs that screw into a normal light socket and look like a fancy facetted light bulb. It puts out the equivalent of a 50W bulb and uses 2W!!! PLUS it doesn't put out HEAT. Now I can understand how incandescent lighting can still be usefull in cold climates where the heat is welcome, but that is a small exception.

What else.... ah deisel. They get 2 times the MPG, require less refining, meaning less power is used to make it usefull, and can be mixed with vege oil to extend supplies.
Gas vehicles suck. I am tired of paying over $50 to fill my car twice a month.