I agree.
Given the general laziness and stubbornness of all human beings, I say let's hurry up & suck all of Earth's oil out of the ground as quickly as possible so we can then force ourselves to find a cheaper, healthier alternative.
There's no way that we'll stop sucking the oily teats of the Earth until it's (oil) all gone, so the quicker we do that, the quicker we'll be forced to find an alternative.
And as you said, this can be done with minimal environmental intrusion so that limp-wristed, bunny-hugging argument can't be used.
We have Senator's over in Iceland looking at geothermal as we speak. Where are the active geothermal areas in the United States? Yellowstone, Long Valley (Mammoth lakes area) in California, the Salton Sea area on the Mexican border, and the Geysers area north of San Francisco. Not withstanding three of these four areas are in anti-everything California, do you think any of these areas could be developed for national needs. No way.
How about wind power. That mean massive "wind farms." One has been proposed for off of Cape Cod. The Kennedys are against it - it would impact their view. There are a couple of projects in the boonies of California, but they are out in the desert or tucked away in the mountains. And they don't supply all that much power.
Solar energy, you say? That means the manufacture of solar cells, which use polluting materials, and of course, the storage question. Lead-acid or other metallic batteries on a large scale? Perish that thought.
Well, what about "clean burning coal"? There is no such thing. "Cleaner" burning maybe, but not because of the coal, but from the expensive scrubbing apparatus involved."
Okay then - oil shale. Which mountain range in Utah or Wyoming do we level? And its no cleaner than any other oil source, it's just mined instead of pumped.
In the long run, the most viable and cost-effective petroleum replacement for non-transportation needs is nuclear. And we know how that has been accepted.
The point you allude to, in reality, and one I agree with, is this nation needs an energy policy that looks past the next election cycle.