I only partially agree with your statement. Some people do need trucks for work purposes, and some people like SUV's for whatever reasons. It doesn't make it right or wrong, and we can't change their opinion. That aside, if people are going to continue purchasing trucks and suv's, and this seems to be the case regardless of the price of gasoline, then it makes sense to offer them options that are more fuel efficient than what is now available.

IMHO, we need to stop looking at the fuel efficiency in absolute terms, like 50mpg or 30 mpg, and look at the efficiency increases as compared to what a vehicle gets now.

You state that a hybrid pick-up is a joke unless it gets prius-like mileage. Look, I know there is a lot of technology out there, but the fact is that it's a lot easier to take a car with 2 or 3 liter engine, and make it a hybrid or some such that takes the mileage from 30mpg to 40 or 45 or 50, because that is increasing the mileage by 50 or 60%. Compare that with taking a 6 or 7 liter V8 that currently gets 7-10mpg and making it get 50mpg. That is on the order of a 500%, which by standards is an enormous order. If we simply look at the increased mileage on a percentage basis that a prius has over something similar, like a non hybrid civic or such, it is probably in the 40-60% range, as I stated before. If we could implement the same sorts of gains in the truck world, with a hybrid 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton work truck, then that would be Awesome!

Let's look at some numbers, comparing the gasoline used by a truck that gets 10mpg vs a hybrid truck with a 50% increase in gas, and a car that gets 30mpg vs a hybrid that gets a 50% increase, both driven 15,000 miles a year at $3.50/gal, which is now low.

Standard Truck - 15,000 at 10mpg = 1500 gallons, $3.5/gal = $5,250
Hybrid Truck - 15,000 at 15mpg = 1000 gallons, $3.5/gal = $3,500

Standard Car - 15,000 at 30mpg = 500 gallons, $3.5/gal = $1,750
Hybrid Car - 15,000 at 45mpg = 333 gallons, $3.5/gal = $1,166

If you look, hybridizing a truck, or implementing other efficiency measures that equal a 50% increase in mileage, saves the amount of gas that a standard car uses in a year, at these numbers. So, we should be happy about this savings as comparatively, making trucks and suv's saves more oil in the long run
I would even say its easier to make people buying trucks and suvs swallow the price increase for a hybrid because they are used to paying more money for their vehicles anyway.
I think people should get the vehicle they need, and to a degree what they want. People need to start being more aware of what their effect is on the earth, and I think thats slowly happening. But if people are still going to buy trucks and suvs, then it makes sense to try to achieve the same gains on a percentage basis with trucks and suvs, as with cars, because if you tell GM or Ford or Toyota that they have to make cars 50% more efficient, but trucks 500% more efficient, they won't just hem and haw, they will say screw you, it can't be done, and then we won't be any further along than we are now. The same mileage gains on a percentage basis are a lot more realistic, and after all, that's what we all need to be, right? Realistic in what we can achieve, in our impact on the environment.