I'm not sure this is quite true, because of the availability of massive amounts of coal. The main need for oil is for transportation, and most of this can be replaced by some combination of electric cars and trains, ultimately powered by coal.
This means that the conflict comes down to the imbalance between coal-rich and coal-poor regions, and the side effects of burning so much coal. Ideally, the West should take these into consideration, but to do so would be a big change from how we've done things in the past.
See the Perfect Storm diary and the linked article therein.
Simply put, the US doesn't have the funds to painlessly shift from oil to coal when
