Even if the combustion of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, gasoline, diesel, and gaseous hydrocarbons, did not produce pollution related to "Global Warming", Carcinogens, and other environmental and health problems, the fact there is only a finite quantity available, compels the pursuit of replacing them with alternative sources of energy. However, the reality is that fossil fuel will remain the major energy source for many more years and much more emphasis, than there is now, must be placed on innovation and ingenuity to more efficiently produce and consume the unconventional fossil fuel energy resources, within the United States of America, to mitigate the polluting effect of their use and to reduce our dependence on imported petroleum products.
I have been an oilfield engineer for more than fifty years and I have watched, with bewilderment, the premature abandonment and dismantling of thousands of producing wells in the USA.
There are oil and/or natural gas wells, all over the USA, including some in the less deep waters of the gulf of Mexico, that were deemed "non-commercial" and either not produced at all, or abandoned, leaving a lot of petroleum reserves under produced.
A lot of these wells were abandoned when foreign oil was cheap and It seemed logical to let the "others" exploit their resources "on the cheap" while we (the USA) saved ours for later. But somehow that philosophy was "lost in the shuffle", and those under produced fields have been left abandoned, probably forgotten, and/or the obstacles imposed by "new" state and federal regulations is a major deterrent to re-establishing production. But in any case Billions of barrels of oil and equivalent energy can be accessed by now producing them incorporating new EOR methods.
In my opinion there should be a national program established, similar to the way the space program was established, that will take the initiative, incorporating the good old USA ingenuity, for innovation to fully exploit all phases of our existing energy potential.
There are federal agencies and programs to support some energy innovation but nothing serious enough to make a dent in our energy deficiency. There seems to be complete disregard of the impact a really concerted effort could have on the trade imbalance and drain of the US treasury to foreign treasuries, and the improvement that would be derived on USA employment and commerce in general.
The opportunity is right in front of our face but it seems the chances of the this administration taking advantage of it is slim. I hope I'm wrong.