As far as reducing our consumption of oil, we can do that. Hybrid cars, how about converting the oil guzzlers over to natural gas, could be done if we required our automotive manufacturers to do it? Would take a decade maybe. How about hydrogen fuel vehicles, hell, I bet we could generate electricity with hydrogen. Must come up with a better means to crack the water molecule. Speaking of molecules, I think I've got a new nickname for you, MOLECULE.
Going to respond to this even though it goes against my better judgement.
Hybrid cars are a fantastic idea... if they just appeared out of thin air. First, the car has to be built. The batteries in these cars are made from rare, heavy metals that have to be mined and smelted... so lets START by figuring out new ways to power machinery large enough to mine raw ore without using petroleum. The next step would be to figure out a way to melt ore without using insane amounts of electricity...
wait, convert gas guzzlers over to natural gas... ok, I see how that could help stop oil leaks in the gulf... wait, except for the fact that MOST OF THE WORLDS NATURAL GAS COMES FROM PETROLEUM DEPOSITS IN THE EARTH! Yes, the same petroleum deposits that hold this terrible OIL that we are attempting to leave alone.
Hydrogen fueled vehicles is another good idea... if we can figure out a way to produce large amounts of hydrogen without burning NATURAL GAS to get it. See, 95% of the Hydrogen used today was and is produced by burning... you got it... natural gas... and remember where the natural gas comes from? Yeah, petroleum deposits. Now, there are other methods to produce Hydrogen like solar, biological and electrical but these methods use more energy to produce hydrogen than is obtained from the actual hydrogen. Furthermore, to use wind turbines to produce hydrogen may be a good idea except for the fact that the plastics that are used in wind turbines are derived from... petroleum, the metals that are used in wind turbines are mined and smelted using... petroleum... coal... you know, viable energy sources.
Electric cars fall into this trap as well. They sound well and good but they require electricity to run. Electricity doesn't just magically appear at the outlets in your house, it has to be produced somewhere. Unless your electricity is provided by nuclear plants, you are still using the same amount of fossil fuels. As your electricity consumption goes up, the amount of fossil fuels used at your local power plant goes up, the petroleum used in the mining equipment to obtain those fossil fuels such as coal... goes up.
See, the fact is that the reason we still USE petroleum is not because we hate the environment. It is because it is the ONLY viable long term energy source that we have access to at this point and time. Anyone thinking differently must look at the PROCESS from start to finish to "solve" our dependence on petroleum.
Now, start from the beginning... and show me a viable, "green" energy source.