The marketplace should do that, not central planning by government. Oil is a global commodity. Our dependence on "foreign" oil is going to grow for the foreseeable future. Since 1970 the US population has grown by 100 million, since 1990 by 53 million and since 2000, by 20 million or the equivalent of the population of our seven largest cities. The Census bureau projects that we will have 364 million by 2030 and over 400 million by 2050.
3/4 of that population growth can be attributed to immigration, legal and illegal. Our energy requirements as well as other infrastructure needs will increase. We can't conserve our way out of this dependence nor can we afford to hobble our economy and be competitive globally.
the contribution that the feds would make would be tax incentives and R&D.