On the topic of alternative energy, if the world suddenly found itself completely dry of fossil fuel, the world wouldn't grind to a halt. We would have viable alternative energy within two weeks, and it would most likely be a nuclear design. The reason we don't do that is because at the moment, gas prices are still acceptable, despite our whining and moaning.
Moreover, we are far from running out of drill points. The only problem is that the oil wells we know of are losing pressure. They aren't surging through the pipes as strongly anymore, and in some places you have to suck it out yourself. But even past that, we have untapped oil potential right here in America. Before we give up our internal combustion engines for clean nuclear power, we'd rather spend two or more times the effort
chemically treating and extracting oil shale located half a mile underground.
It will be a long time before anybody will have the balls to seriously pursue viable alternative energy to the point that is economically feasible. You can run some cars on pure ethanol, or plug it in overnight at your home, but both options are
still more expensive over time than gassing up. The biggest advance we've made so far is in hybridization, which cleverly reduces mechanical friction (aka loss of energy) and double-dips for energy whenever you use your brakes. However, they are still primarily fossil fuel cars.
Environmentalists have failed to scare the nation into switching to clean energy. This may be due to the fact that our overall air quality is quite high, nearly back to (if not better than) the state before primitive coal mines were in place. Emissions regulation works.
In the end, the solution is subtle. As a U.S. consumer, there aren't many ways you can get away with completely boycotting fuel. A literally negligible number of people have the ability to do all of their errands or work on foot or bike. But if everybody did "what they can" as far as reducing fuel use goes, eventually the oil industry would take a hit*. This would cause prices to ratchet up even further, which encourages more people to drive conservatively; this positive feedback will eventually make alternative energy viable by comparison, but it will still require a decade or more of large economic support before enough advances are made to bring the prices of
that technology down to what we'd like (the energy equivalent of $2/gal, for example.)
* It is worth noting that while I have taken economics courses, I am not confident enough to actually predict the outcome of certain situations for certain industries with any degree of certainty. Take from my opinion what you will.