Well actually I was just driving with a (small) amount of ethanol amplifying the power of the car radio. There was a french singer singing about the environement. He names himself mickey 3D and his song ("il faut que tu respires") gives quite a pessimistic view of the future : it tells the story of the human being.. that is bound to end soon but he doesn't know how. One key message of the song is your child asking you in 20 years time why did not you do anything to stop this, and can it be possible that birds were singing at springtime ... Actually this is not really pessimistic because it is unrealistic. My view of the near future is the inspired by Richard Heinberg's powerdown essay that describes how the scarcity of fossil energies will bring a new localised  economy and civilisation that is bound to replace the suburban sprawl. The thing is, when I have been having booze I start believe this kind of stuff strongly. Am I being more lucid ?