We are in a period of transition involving a protracted energy crisis and an energy revolution evidently on the way as well. Oil prices have blown through US$ 100/barrel, and it is anyone's guess if and when they'll drop below three figures again. Even if oil prices do decline significantly through what appears to be a deep recession in the United States, swelling demand in the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and elsewhere will likely bring them back up and over 100 dollars in a matter of months. On top of that, the evidence of a global environmental problem increasingly reads like dystopian fiction. The February 21 midterm report of the latest comprehensive study of global warming (the Garnaut Review) warns that we must be well on the way to making deep cuts in CO2 emissions before 2020 or the “show will be over.” In short, we face escalating energy and environmental costs in the twilight of the oil age.