For a sagging president and a discredited Congress, the Ukraine crisis actually could be a blessing in disguise. It gives them a chance to do something big: Start a historically significant drive to transform’s America’s energy picture. Russia’s biggest leverage in its attempt to keep Ukraine in its orbit and annex the Crimean peninsula is that Ukraine and its potential allies elsewhere in Europe still depend on Russian natural gas. But Russia’s long-term edge may well decline if the U.S. and other Western powers play their cards right. The U.S. is on its way to becoming a net exporter of natural gas, and potentially a net exporter of crude oil as well. So the energy weapon that has been used so effectively against the U.S. in the last half century could easily change hands with the right kinds of American action. Moreover, the psychological effects could kick in immediately, […]