US energy independence .... - tricky. :(

Coal could be turned into oil. The Germans tried that in WW2. But I believe that would be expensive. Depends on the technology and the price of crude that WILL go up due to the weakening dollar [keep an eye on the dollar index folks] and increasing world demand in the longterm.

Bottom line: even if the US drilled offshore and in Anwar(sp), the US is unlikely to produce enough oil to meet present demand.

'Present demand' - however future demand may be low enough to be met by domestic production.

What can be done now:
Diesel is more fuel efficient than petrol [which is why a lot of cabs use it] and you can still have a proper big car that can travel a proper distance. Diesels have come a long way - they are a lot cleaner and a lot quieter than they used to be. As an interesting side note: the Diesel engine was invented by mister Diesel to run on peanut butter oil that's why some penny pinching Brits in 2008 ran their Diesels on a type cooking oil [usually 9 parts cooking oil to 1 part diesel to not ruin the car engine]. The government wasn't happy coz .... it didn't provide any tax revenue. They made it illegal.

So US domestic demand for oil can be reduced by greater fuel efficiency: diesel and petrol engines. However, there is one other factor: it is harder to make a lighter car as driver/passenger safe as a heavier car.

And other forms of combustible fuel could be used eg alcohol as in Brazil.

Electric cars: don't use oil but do pollute indirectly ie the electricity that charges them comes from the burning of coal.

No body asks: where is all the electricity gonna come from to charge electric cars? I bet an electric car would use more electricity than a house ... if driven for long enough. ;) How long?

So where will the electricity come from?

Nuclear power plants?

IMHO: too dangerous.

- what would happen if terrorists flew a plane into one? So they would need to be built into mountains like cold-war bunkers. Where would the nuclear waste go?

So it looks like we're down to renewables and the holy grail: nuclear fusion.

They should have spent the stimulus on that. But that's another story.