Natural Resources Defense Council Oil Dependency Solution

http://www.nrdc.org/air/energy/fensec.asp

This article from the NRDC website describes solutions to the problem of oil dependency. From this article I learned that if we were to increase drilling in the U.S. to harvest the domestic oil it would only increase the world’s amount by .3% while the U.S. uses around 25% of the world’s oil supply. Also domestic drilling for domestic oil would only create this small amount in seven to ten years.
This article brought up seven long-term solutions to reducing oil dependency and six short-term solutions. A few of the long-term solutions were; rising fuel economy standards in order for people to save up to $25 billion dollars yearly in fuel, requiring new more fuel efficient tires to lower friction this would save $90 dollars over the new tire’s life span and would reduce gasoline consumption by 3%, tax incentives were another add on solution which would be given towards the advancement of vehicle technology, money towards public transport encouraging larger ranges for these vehicles to travel, and “smart growth” which I grew to understand would help coordinate public transport routes in order to subdue traffic growth that came about through population growth, using ethanol as an alternative fuel instead of gas, and launching an "Apollo Project" in order to use fuel cells with hydrogen.
A few short term solutions to oil dependency were; checking tire pressure to prevent friction and the use of more gas, follow traffic laws, when in line stop engine, use public transportation and carpool when possible, and keeping cars in good condition. Throughout this article they supply ideas that both help the economy and the environment seemingly to hit two birds with one stone.

Things I would like to know after reading this article:

1. What is refuge crude?
2. What are fuel economy standards?
3. Would lower friction tires be more dangerous because it would impede breaking?
4. What was the reasoning of companies to make tires have more friction in the first place?
5. Where would the money for both tax incentives and public transportation come from?
6. What is the definition of "smart growth"?
7. How exactly would reinvesting in public transportation help with the oil situation if the significant increase in riders has already occured?