Time to end the oil dependency

If the Gulf Oil Spill didn't already point out how far behind in technology that the oil companies are, the recent oil spill in China should quickly remind us. Now, I'm not a tree hugger, and I don't believe in Al Gore's vision of the future. Anyone who has studied geology understands that the earth has gone through many cycles of warming and cooling. But I am an advocate for technology and I find it hard to understand how the drilling technology really hasn't advanced beyond the 1970's. Am I missing something here? Can someone enlighten me? Regardless, I do think its time that we moved to more advanced technology than controlled explosions under your hood. Where is the future that I read about as a kid reading Asimov, etc? Honestly I think Obama should have let the auto industry die, they've been unwilling to innovate in the past and have held on to their little slice of reality even though the world is starting to pass them by (kind of like how Hollywood and the record industry still have their thumbs up their collective asses as well). Hmm this rant is getting out of control, think I'll stop here and come back with a more insightful argument later.