Already there are calls for policy changes to fix the flaws in America's energy infrastructure exposed by Katrina: its tight refining capacity, its dependence on offshore drilling in the hurricane-prone Gulf, its love affair with big, inefficient cars.

ECONOMIST: Oil and troubled waters | The

Ministers seem reluctant to do anything that threatens Britons' love affair with their cars, let alone challenge the considerable vested interests behind the road lobby.

ECONOMIST: Transport