Observationist

Implementing Pickens' Plan for Public Energy Policy

Some of the energy sales tax funds could be used to increase subsidies of solar & wind installations that property owners purchase. This would increase distributed power generation on the electric grid putting less strain on building new power plants. Also, for those with electric vehicles, they could be "filling their tanks" very cheaply.

An Alternative to America’s Gasoline Crisis

CNG would really take off if it were available to most people. I work for a state agency and it was proposed to have the fleet converted over from gasoline to CNG, but the cost of building sufficient refueling facilities throughout the state was prohibitive. That was back when gas was around $2pg. It may be revisited now that gas is over $4pg.
As a homeowner in an area that is not served with natural gas, and no CNG fuel stations for 25 miles or more, there is little practical incentive to convert my car or buy one made for CNG. Electricity, on the other hand, is available to everyone, and it comes from a variety of sources, though notably foreign crude oil is not one of them. If electric vehicles do take off, I can imagine a lot more solar panels will be installed to supply "fuel" to those vehicles. After the installation costs have been recovered, those people will be driving their vehicles essentially for free (not including maintenance, etc.), and the US would become less dependent on foreign oil.
The idea that drilling for more oil will somehow result in lower prices for crude oil anytime soon is a pipe dream, and it is backward looking rather than forward. People will change their habits and purchasing decisions as prices go up. The primary motivation for most people to act is when their wallets are being emptied.