Came across this series of videos by accident:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-QA2rkpBSY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb3JI8F9LQQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFyOw9IgtjY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQd-VGYX3-E

(There's more in the series that I encourage you to watch, but if you just get to the 4th video, you'll get the idea by that point)

First, let me say I love the old fart in it.

Second let me say, having now seen that video, how much fun would it be to see a reporter ask Sarah Palin and the "Drill Here, Drill Now" Republicans the simple question, "Do you you understand the principle of exponential growth and how it relates to energy & population?" Oh, to watch the "Radio Shack: You've Got Questions, We've Got Blank Stares" look in their eyes....

Actually, really somebody should ask Pro-Life Sarah about exponential doubling just in terms of her own family's baby bun factory. The Earth simply can't afford her family's "lifestyle".

But the question in terms of energy would be priceless. Of course to be really effective, the reporter would have to actually follow up the question with INFORMATION as to why this is important, so of course, we'll never see that on television.

But you can see at least the FACTS on the "internets".

I watched the first installment. The guy is cool. I loved his lecture on the wheat and the chessboard.
I have no illusions that the future holds some kind of Star Trek super advanced society going to other planets and all.
Global civilization has another 50 years at best. If we're lucky, there will be communities that got some windmills set up, and manage to salvage enough of the technology to live well.

Keep watching. It gets better.

Homework:

Using the doubling formula, or even using a business calculator, figure out how many more years at our current increase in world population before the entire solar system is filled with human flesh like a gigantic, grisly beanbag.

Hahaha! Yeah, that was one of my favorites, was when he calculated out how many years of this insane population growth rate it would take before people actually outweighed the mass of the Earth.

I would submit that his calculation is flawed only in the respect that if people keep eating deep-fried turkeys,donuts, coke, and Mars bars, it'll happen faster. Unless of course the rate of heart attacks balances things out, LOL!