Yes, China and India are using more oil, but production has kept up even with their demands... there isn't a shortage of supply... so this run up is not based on actual state of affairs as far as I can tell...
Looks to me like either panicy "bubble" type mentality by futures buyers, or flat out manipulation and profiteering.
Like I said yesterday, if the Bush Administration would announce that it was considering selling off a significant portion of the U.S. strategic oil reserve--taking advantage of high prices to reduce the federal deficit--the price of oil would drop drastically. I believe the current oil futures market is being driven by--Saudi King Dies! Oil Refinery Fire! Middle East Violence!--etc. etc. The reason to shift to alternative energy is that burning fossil fuels is an antiquated system. We are driving the same basic automobile we were driving in the 1940's. Oil is dirty and expensive and its procurement entails politically distasteful realities.