Actually, I'm pretty relaxed about the "world's troubles", which in many parts of the world are far less than they were in the 80's and 90's. I think we should be celebrating this much-needed period of adjustment. I actually don't think the answers are that difficult any more - just slow to implement and a bit of a balancing act.
Yes, energy cost is an important factor in regaining a happy equilibrium again. Longer term, other resource shortages will be more critical.
For me, much of the adjustments we are facing relate to the period in which we have finally allowed Asia the opportunity to join us in the developed world.... it's been a very rapid period of change and the speed tends to create more extreme imbalances, including in energy costs. Overall though, this has been a big step in the right direction for human rights. Naturally it means that we can't expect to benefit as much from outsourced slavery. We need to return our focus to our own productivity if we want to maintain our living standards in the face of this adjustment. We may also want to make some compromises in our living standards - allow the carpet to get a little more threadbare... I love beautiful things as much as the next girl, but I'm all for ditching the "Home & Garden" obsession.