It isn't Oil OR Alternatives, it is Both

For 27 years drilling has been prohibited in proven US oil reserves off of our coasts. In addition in the Rocky Mountain West, we have an enormous amount of energy in oil-shale that can be profitably extracted at current prices.

Our cost for fuel has doubled in less than 3 years, indicating something is out of balance. At current costs, there is a lot of demand (and a lot of profit available) for alternative energy sources, but we can't displace the oil (or carbon) economy overnight. It will take time for alternative energy (even Nuclear) to take it's place.

If we're to avoid doubling fuel costs again in the next 5 years, we need to start using the oil, oil-shale, and coal we have here already. We burn these fuels more cleanly than any other country on the planet, and by insisting on a clean environment, we've developed technologies & expertise we can sell all over the world.

At these prices, the motivation exists, we just need to knock some sense into our politician's heads.

FOXNews.com - McCain Scores With Offshore Drilling Proposal - Opinion:
"John McCain has drawn first blood in the political debate following Barack Obama's victory in the primaries. His call yesterday for offshore oil drilling — and Bush's decision to press the issue in Congress - puts the Democrats in the position of advocating the wear-your-sweater policies that made Jimmy Carter unpopular.

With gas prices nearing $5, all of the previous shibboleths need to be discarded. Where once voters in swing states like Florida opposed offshore drilling, the high gas prices are prompting them to reconsider. McCain's argument that even hurricane Katrina did not cause any oil spills from the offshore rigs in the Gulf of Mexico certainly will go far to allay the fears of the average voter.
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The Saudis have made a fatal mistake in not forcing down the price of oil. We could have gone for decades as their hostage, letting their control over our oil supplies choke us while enriching them. But they got greedy and let the price skyrocket. The sudden shock which has sent America reeling is just the stimulus we need for a massive movement away from imported oil and toward new types of cars.

The political will for major change in our energy policy is now here and those, like Obama, who don't get it need to rethink their positions. To quote FDR, “this great nation calls for action and action now” on the energy issue. What has been a back-burner problem now has moved onto center stage and McCain has put himself in the forefront.
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Of course, the high price of gas makes it inevitable that the US will lead the world in fighting climate change. With $5 gas, Americans will switch en masse to cars that burn less gasoline. Already we have cut our oil consumption by 500,000 barrels a day in the past year (about a 3% cut). The move away from oil will be exponential from here on out, dooming radical Islam and reversing climate change at the same time. But while we are getting new cars, we need more oil and McCain has flanked Obama on this issue."