The energy development model as now constituted is not working for the US economy or the citizens. Tweaking is not an answer any more. There has to be a game changer.
If the government was serious about lowering the cost of energy, it would open up the development of oil resources in the US, remove/reduce restrictions on development, and if necessary, provide subsidies for refinery, pipeline, and well development wholly owned by US shareholders.
The quid pro quo would be that all of that energy would stay in the US.
Any oil shipped out of the US would have a $30-$40 a barrel tariff placed on it to pay back the subsidies.
Since these companies would be owned by Americans, assisted by subsides from the government, in essence our money, and the energy used here, this would provide jobs for Americans and provide energy the lowest cost.
Let the rest of the world play the global energy game and the US should set up the largest CO-OP in history.
Please, no more subsidies. Not even ones that would directly benefit me personally.
Just open up more areas to exploration. Be reasonable and consistent on regulations and permits. Be competitive globally on taxes and rarely tweak them.
Hussein could lower the price of energy tomorrow. By presidential order he could:
1) End the blending of "boutique" gasoline.
2) Approve ALL outstanding drilling permits immediately.
3) Open up all areas in Alaska and off both coasts for drilling.
4) Fast track the Keystone pipeline project.
These moves alone would decrease the price of a barrel of oil dramatically. They would have the added benefit of spurring job growth. They would not cost the government a penny and would generate billions in taxes.
For the longer term he could announce a real comprehensive energy program along these lines:
1) End all subsidies for "green" energy programs including and especially ethanol.
2) Announce a billion dollar program to build six coal to oil plants.
3) Grant all pending permits for coal mining and open up federal lands to coal.
4) Announce a billion dollar program to build six nuclear plants using new technology centered around "pebble bed" or thorium reactors. These reactors would be located on the coasts and could be twinned with desalination plants that turn saltwater into freshwater. Run the water plants at night when energy use is less.
5) Announce a billion dollar program to help develop shale oil and algae/bacteria to oil schemes.
6) Close the Department of Energy and the EPA.
The money you save closing those two departments and the extra tax money generated would fund those three billion dollar programs.
Oil prices would drop like a stone.
Now, if I can come up with this stuff, off the top of my head, why doesn't Hussein do any of this? Either he doesn't think it would work, in which case he is either stupid or ideologically blinded. Or, he is not interested in lower energy prices. I think it is a combination of both.