I was mildly surprised with Al Gore's challenge. It occurred to me that, if John Kennedy could throw down the gauntlet and say we'd walk on the moon within a set time frame, why couldn't someone step up to the plate and do the same for the fuel problem? There is little humans can't do if they focus and stop saying "it can't be done". 

It's interesting to note that Exxon is now running an ad campaign touting their new breakthrough in fuel cell separator membranes. You know darned well they wouldn't spend the money on research or ads if they didn't expect to turn a profit with fuel cell development. Nor would they spend the time and money if they thought they are going to continue to move oil at the current pace.