Although the City of Philadelphia has ditched a third of its SUVs and plucked cops out of Crown Vics in favor of more fuel-efficient Chevy Impalas, municipal vehicles still guzzle 140,000 gallons of gas and diesel every week. Rising gas prices mean the city could spend an extra $7 million fueling its 6,000 vehicles this year.

"It's a problem," says Bob Fox, administrative director for the city's Fleet Management Division. "We're looking at substantial deficits. We base our budgeting on last year's costs — and we thought that was pretty high."

For taxpayers, cabbies and others who need gasoline to make a living, high prices take a toll on the local economy. But woes at the pump and oil reliance are tied to larger issues including the war in Iraq, environmental justice and global warming. Oil dependency is expensive, but more importantly, it's not what God wants. So say organizers of the Philly Beyond Oil Teach-in and Conference, a gathering of professors, experts and clergy set for Sunday at the Friends Center at 15th and Cherry streets. Of the dozens of sponsors, many are religious groups moonlighting as activists.

Rabbi Arthur Waskow says protecting the environment is as important as following other Jewish mandates, such as dietary laws forbidding the mixing of milk and meat. Adjusting the evangelical Christian slogan, "What would Jesus drive?" he offers, "What's a kosher car and an unkosher car?"

These spiritual leaders say they can cure Americans of their oil addiction just as they help people get off drugs and alcohol; Waskow says addiction has power over people the same way the pharaoh had power over the Jews, Caesar over Christians and Mecca's elite over Mohammad. Throughout history, religion has been the answer to oppression and now it's religion's responsibility to stand up to powerful oil companies and lobbyists.

"Big oil and its political allies are the Caesar and the pharaoh of American society," says Waskow.

So, just how do clergy expect to beat big business? They can encourage congregants to make their next car a hybrid and suggest carpooling to services. On the city level, they say officials must get serious about alternative energy sources and conservation. For example, the conference wants to draw attention to the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, which asks mayors to meet or surpass Kyoto Protocol targets in their own communities. Seattle's mayor launched the initiative in February, but Mayor Street didn't sign on until this summer.

The city has made small strides in the spirit of the agreement. It has six Toyota Priuses on the roads and six more Ford Escapes are on order, Fox says, noting the technology is too new to entrust all the city's business to hybrid cars.

High gas prices prompted the Parking Authority, which sets taxi fares, to consider imposing another increase after allowing the first hike in 14 years this summer. "Needless to say, we weren't thinking about going back immediately and imposing another increase on cab fares, but this is very, very unusual," says James Ney, director of the Authority's Taxi and Limo Division.

When it comes to saving money on gas, the city struck a deal with Sunoco. The company lets the city fix fuel costs for three months a pop. Since July 1, the city has paid $1.77 per gallon (city purchases are exempt from taxes). The looming, renegotiated cost will probably be closer to the wholesale standard, which was $2.24 last week, he says. "We're trying our hardest," he says, "but police cars, fire engines, medic units and the compactors make up the majority of our vehicle fuel purchasing and nobody wants us to cut back on that."

Likewise, the city is slow to make big changes when it comes to heating, cooling and lighting 450 municipal buildings. Conservation efforts saved just under $2 million last year, says city energy coordinator Kent Miller.

Progressive solutions like installing solar panels aren't yet on the radar screen. "It's difficult for us to really develop a multi-decade plan," Miller says, "but in the near term we can conserve because that's what we control."

Tired of this wait-and-see approach, Philly Beyond Oil (www.phillybeyondoil.com) speakers will also examine what oil dependency means on a national and global scale. Among their arguments: The war in Iraq is more about controlling Middle East oil supplies than fighting terrorism; global warming is heating up the earth's oceans and likely fueled Katrina's wrath; and the poorest people inevitably feel the worst effects of pollution and disasters.

"Every major faith tradition calls on its followers to protect earth as a sacred and irreplaceable gift," says Joy Bergey, project director for the Pennsylvania Interfaith Climate Change Campaign. "Even more than that, it's a matter of social justice, because pollution invariably leads to harm to God's children."