Solve the Oil Crisis

With gas prices soaring steadily it is impossible not to feel stressed about the fact that we are running out of oil resources, and in poor relations with the majority of the countries we are in oil trade with. This is one of if not the most dominant threat to the U.S. nation's economy yet we pass up opportunities to solve our problem. I believe it is high time for the United States goverment to create legislation which allows oil drilling off of our coasts (Florida, Texas, etc.)
Currently, the American government does not support this because of environmental conciousness. Logically however, this is just delaying the inevitable. Obviously we are no where near a situation where we as a nation will not be dependent upon oil, thus eventually we are going to be forced to use our resources. I think to a certain extent the global warming scare has people acting out of fear instead of out of logic. This of course is not to say that we should not continue investing in finding other fuel resources, and all the while we must be as environmentally concious as possible, however we must deal with present problems now, especially when an economic crisis is looming.
If the United States government would pass legislation allowing more off shore drilling not only would this create jobs and thus boost the economy but also it would instantly drive the price of gas per barrel down. When our current oil resources became aware that we were beginning to drill off shore gas prices would have to plummet in order for the other countries to remain competitive. We are allowing ourselves to be put in a compromising economic situation for the sake of delaying something we will come to do eventually.
As previously stated, I beliee of course that America should be cautious and as eco-friendly as possible. However, it is time to take charge of our resources and end this economic crisis that is fully preventable.