Exactly. There has to be incentive.
But beyond that, there has to be a change in the attitude of excess and entitlement that many in the U.S. have. There is no reason why the U.S. should be re-experiencing what happened in the late 70s , more importantly, there is no excuse to approach the issue with the same 1970s answers.

We have alternatives. Indeed, we have had alternatives, there were more alternative vehicles produced in the late 1990s, including American manufacturers, than now (EV1, Ford fleet alternative vehcles, gmc alternatives). Help people who are feeling the crunch dust off their solar panels, convert their car to NGV, propane, electricity, w/e... build mass public transportation systems in major metropolitan areas, and teach people that they can easily reduce their consumption with a few changes.