What are the greatest opportunities for moving U.S. energy policy forward?

A Democratic President with a 60 seat Democratic majority in the House, and 65 seats for the Democrats in the Senate.

Loss of foreign oil !

Getting the government out of the “energy policy” business.

Elimination of special treatment of the oil industry.

If energy companies weren’t allowed to externalize their costs, then the free market would naturally favor clean, renewable sources of energy. Fossil fuel is only cheap because we’re accruing trillions of dollars in environmental debt on future generations. If there was a $20/gallon “hurricane, wildfire, flooding, etc. tax” I think companies like Tesla would be taking over the market, and the major carmakers would be forced to really innovate, not to mention major improvements to public transportation and infrastructure.