My issue with the "people don't need cars" thing is that the solutions proposed are urban ones. If I lived in a city then, provided that the public transport was half decent, I wouldn't have a car. I wouldn't have big dogs or a garden, my entire lifestyle would be different; in fact I would be a very different person.
I am not that urban "me" and my choices are different ones. I don't holiday abroad, go to cinemas or use energy in other ways, instead I have got the car I need for my lifestyle.
If people are going to talk about wasted resource then I think ALL resource use needs to be considered. Foreign holidays, personal use of electricity and gas, use of cinema's, theatres, swimming pools and so on, purchase of items which require energy and materials to make.......purchase of imported items disposal of discarded items and so on......