Hi Wizard,
Did you mention James Howard Kunstler's speculations? Although aspects may be argued against, it does offer food for thought. Click on the link to read first pages.
The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of the Oil Age, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-first Century (Hardcover)
by James Howard Kunstler.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0871138883/ref=sib_fs_bod/104-1608093-3805549?%5Fencoding=UTF8&p=S00H&checkSum=H8VSxKAb6qroISaEGyZIgaMmpLXoAT0Wik8mDKsY0Cw%3D#reader-page