There is a way to gain a large measure of energy independence realtively quickly.
Mine the ocean floor for a substance known as Methane Hydrate. This is an amorphous, jelly-like substance, stable at temperatures below abour 40 degrees Fahrenheit, that just lies in the ooze of ocean depths, where the temperature never rises above about 38 degrees Fahrenheit. SEnd down a rig to crawl around on the bottom, sucking in this Methane Hydrate, and draw it back up to a collector on the surface, where it is allowed to warm and go through phase change, into saline water and methane gas. Cool and compress the methane to liquified form, and haul it in pressurized and insulated tankers to an LNG facility at the port.
And where does the energy come from to drive this operation? From some fraction of the recovered methane that is used to power the machinery to cool and compress the rest of the bulk of methane.
Excellent motor fuel. And long before we have hydrogen available as power for fuel cells, we shall have the methane replacing all other hydrocarbon fuels.
Methane makes an excellent building block, and by catalytic processes, can be built up into a sulfur-free form of gasoline or Diesel fuel, for the more traditional users of motor fuel. Both Diesel fuel and gasoline have the advantage of high energy density per gram of compound, and are easily handled by existing distribution systems.
We never have to buy another gallon of fuel from any overseas source, not even Venezuela. Or Mexico.
Mine the ocean floor for a substance known as Methane Hydrate.
The oil companies have known about methane hydrate since 1970, and no one seems to have a good method to produce it yet. Apparently, it is still too expensive to go after. But the potential reward is incredible. (I base these comments on the discussion about methane hydrate by Kenneth Deffeyes, in his book Beyond Oil: The View From Hubbert's Peak.)