Yep. Sure do. The solution lies in attacking the problem from various directions.
Explore and drill, east and west coasts and Alaska.
Develop the reserves contained in the Bakken Formation
Build modern technology refineries
Build Nuke power plants
Build Coal power plants
Open the clean coal deposits Klinton “closed” which contains 62 BILLION tons of environmentally safe low-sulfur coal from the Kaiparowits Plateau in Utah.
Slowly but steadily increase the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE)
Tax breaks to companies developing bio-diesel techniques that create fuel from cheap waste.
But noooo, we get ethanol. And from CORN no less.
And the enviro-wackjobs demand this...
If the President were to announce this tomorrow and clearly state that due to the necessity of averting a disaster to the economy and a threat to National Security he will emplace Executive Orders that will not only immediately initialize this overall program but exempt it from excessive or unnecessary environmental regulatory agencies rules where do you think the hedge fund speculators will go, thus dropping the market price of crude by 20 - 40 bucks?
They will go straight to that new market of energy production and the companies that will build it, the new technologies that will emerge, as a well functioning "new energy industry" SHOULD be that inviting. Not only will the price start to drop immediately, the very nature of new industry gains and emerging technologies will keep the price down. And, as always, when other nations began to utilize the new and more efficient (higher profit margin) techniques the overall demand will slow.