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The problem with diesel is this - and this is the main reason that in 2005, for the first time, diesel prices exceeded the price of premium gasoline:

While the demand for gasoline varies greatly as related to price - the higher the price, the less the public drives gasoline vehicles - the demand for diesel is relatively constant. Diesel is the predominant fuel of industry, business, commercial transportation and the military.

It is true that producing diesel is less expensive than producing gasoline - it requires less refining is one of the first by-products of the refining process.

But its demand remains high when the public decides to drive less due to high cost, industry, business, commercial transportation and military cannot reduce their demand.

SO, if we become more dependent on diesel vehicles, the demand, and thus the cost, will continue to rise.

I purchased a diesel truck for my business in 2005 only to find that very weekend diesel prices went through the roof. Still, the efficiency of the diesel engine made it such that my fuel cost per mile was lower than that of a gasoline truck.

But if we swing to a significantly larger number of diesel personal vehicles, the refining capacity of our nation being limited - diesel prices can only again skyrocket from their present high levels - to a point of possibly making the price unreasonable, but also of creating supply problems.

And if there are supply problems, you can be assured that industry, business, commercial transportation and the military will have diesel before you and I do.