Energy Tomorrow is When?

The good "People of America's Oil and Natural Gas Industry"(EnergyTomorrow.org) are having fun painting pretty pictures this summer of the drilling scenario in our coastal waters. The introductory sentence to their magazine ad claims there's enough oil underneath "fragile marine life" "to power more than 60 million cars". It's godsend news because these "undiscovered" mines of "tomorrow's energy" will provide security and economic stimulus for a strongerAmerica.
Of course, while casting the government as the evil leprechaun guarding this pot of gold, they cite a U.S. Department of Energy prediction that 15% more energy will be needed by 2030. Next, they remind the vigilant American consumer, that these two energy saviors (oil, especially) are used to manufacture, transport, store, and operate a majority of the products in your home, on your body, and in the trash heap. I'm no mathematician, but won't that alter their "60 for 60" claim? If these "plentiful domestic oil and natural gas resources" will be used to satisfy the "60 for 60" prediction, where will we derive resources which "make possible our unequaled quality oflife"?
I've overquoted the ad to highlight the language used by the oil industry to sell us this lemon of an energy solution. One which numerous readers of The Coast Star have advocated in writing to the editor, including August 28th's 650-word, spelling bee-caliber rant,"To drill or not to drill". If you're serious about Oil, prove to me that it's with the nation's future in mind, not yours.
Remember that cockamamie idea about installing coastal wind turbines? Remember Shore residents and Ted Kennedy saying they'd ruin the coast's aesthetic appeal? Apparently nobody's seen the dense oil rig layout blanketing the Gulf Coast during recent hurricane coverage(http://terraceadvocate.blogspot.com/). I'm no Martha Stewart, but you have to prove to me that rigging is more appealing than pinwheels, pinwheels spinning around.
We also have a different definition of "tomorrow". If you define "tomorrow" by days, not generations, then you have a point. If rigs were in place and ready to pump tomorrow, Friday, then offshore drilling holds some immediate promise. But they're not, and they'd require a huge investment into something we know is going to disappear. It's like giving a gift of Mets' tickets, for the 2015 season, which are only redeemable at Shea Stadium.
Claiming that oil is tomorrow's energy solution is completely preposterous. While investing in a vanishing resource likely will not be detrimental to anyone currently alive, years from now America will be run on something other than oil, and I doubt it'll be Dunkin. If we are, as we claim, society builders, then we have a huge responsibility.
How will the history books or Tom Brokaw of 2150 remember ourgeneration? Will we be ones who foretold the future and allowed it to transpire in favor of gluttony and selfishness? Or will we be ones who embraced the uncertainty associated with change and re-educated ourselves to a life of sustainability?
Cynicism says selfishness will conquer.