If coal and oil were not so heavily subsidized by the American government, there would at least be a level playing field upon which to measure all of the options. (And let the market choose the winner(s).)

Storage isn't really an engineering problem, either, when you talk about a level playing field. There are oodles of ways to store energy for later use, including distributed batteries. The real interesting work right now in alternative energy is how to use all the batteries in the customer network (electric cars, powerwalls, etc) to pull from during peak use times, and charge them at off-peak times.

Hell... just a decade ago the thought of broadband to your home was kinda silly, because nobody was gonna run fiber into neighborhoods... but now they are talking about it as a "basic need". So things change quickly when the market is allowed to operate without bias.

And as far as gas goes, check out the "Pickens' Plan" from T. Boone Pickens. He wants to kill oil with natural gas (because he's heavily invested in natural gas), and has a complete, national plan, for how to do it. He's been pushing it for years, and it seems people are starting to listen.