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You are correct in principle that individual's should know what to do, but the president has the famous "bully pulpit" to focus everyone's actions and to introduce legal incentives to further motivate.
For example, the president could have been much more specific than "drive less". He could have started a "just say no" style campaign to raise awareness of carpooling, make a connection between patriotism and public transportation, etc.
Furthermore, he could have urged congress to pass stricter environmental law on manufacturers to save oil, provided tax relief or even government sponsorship of alternate energy research, and so forth.
And the time when he could have done this was right after 9/11 when his popularity and public support was at its highest. The public was ready and willing to follow just about any sensible lifestyle change for the cause, and the best he had is "go shopping".
Truly pathetic.
