Existentialist Collapse Chatter

I've become increasingly fascinated with the "collapse" meme in environmental and energy circles. It's really become the secular equivalent of End-Times. I don't say that to denigrate the peak oil crowd or climate change advocates, because I happen to think the energy/climate intersection is quite serious and may well lead to widespread socio-political turmoil. Still, I can't help but be amused by how the debate sometimes plays out on intellectual and pop culture levels. For example, here's a recent post over at the Oil drum, in which the writer shares a common refrain of her friends, who work in environmental NGO's: