Well, selfish is the wrong word. The person you quote is engaged in strawman building. Let's ask instead something useful:

The US needs X amount of energy now. We get it from a mix of sources, but primarily natural gas, coal, and nuclear

Explain what sources you intend to replace those with. Don't talk to me about pixie dust and unicorns - tell me what you want to replace them with.

And no, saying "we'll use less power" is not an answer. Put simply, people are not giving up large screen tvs, comfortable homes, always on power (etc, etc).