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"Something like an SMR transition to a Hydrogen-based fuel system is a way the United States could control its own destiny -- using Natural Gas to produce both Hydrogen and heat at the same time."
It would mean building more natural gas pipelines and add ones from Alaska to the lower 48, as well pipelines from Mexico/Canada.
Natural gas, especially increasing it's use 2 fold like you propose, will only run out faster than it is. At best that idea is a very short term fix. And we don't need a pipeline from Alaska to the lower 48, only to Northern Alberta to connect to that system which already supplies much of our natural gas.

Ultimately, if we are going to use hydrogen in any large way, we need to make it using electricity. The only answer is to build nuclear power plants, but we will still have to import all the uranium to run them. If we don't get off our butts and start building them and securing Uranium deposits (Canada is loaded with the stuff) we will end up with the short end of the stick because other countries will have beat us to it.

Natural gas, especially increasing it's use 2 fold like you propose, will only run out faster than it is. At best that idea is a very short term fix. And we don't need a pipeline from Alaska to the lower 48, only to Northern Alberta to connect to that system which already supplies much of our natural gas.

What I meant is the the SMR process is a transitional process to go to hydrogen. In other words, we can start producing hydrogen and build hydrogen cars sooner, while at the same time ramping up the electrical grid to produce more electricity (to produce hydrogen) or other ways to produce hydrogen.

A number of problems can be solved if the energy is available -- if we had the hydrogen to fuel cars, we could switch to that.

We could also try to speed up research on Breeder Reactors. On they more promising than current reactors?

We have huge coal reserves. Just build cleaner coal fired electrical plants.

Also, there is a need for either desalination or a way to get water from one part of the country to another. The drought in the Southeast may become critical in the next year, for example.

It has been a long time since the United States invested in its infrastructure -- Interstate Highways were built from the 1950s into the late 1960s (though some might have been completed about 1975 or later).

It has been decades since there has been any investment in the rail system.

California is the only state to put significant resources into aquaducts and other water transportation systems...