How bad will it get as the oil runs out?

Crude oil is now getting harder to get. Eventually it will only be for the super rich. What do you think will happen to the USA ?How bad will it get as the oil runs out?
I dont think i wanna be around when it goes , when its scarce there will be large scale anarchy to get supplies , and when its gone altogether , there isnt a viable replacement ,cos the politicians wont get their thumbs outa their asses long enuff to work one out and the place will get awful cold and hungryHow bad will it get as the oil runs out?
we have an oil refinery in alaska that will open as a last resort and then every one will have to buy a differnt type of fuel .... we could try strong whisky like in back to the future maybe
oil is really important only in the transportation realm. trains and boats ran on coal previously and can again. trains can convert to electricity and boats to nuclear. During WWII many countries had public transportation dirsupted by the lack of oil shipments. busses can run just fine on methane (rotting bananas) and trolleys can run on electricity. cars can also be adapted to biofuels, batteries, or compressed gas. they might not go 0-60 mph in 8 seconds but they certainly will run. we have lighter materials available for vehicle body works which will help. A 500 lb car can use a much smaller motor than a 3000 lb car. Some feel that biofuels may redirect food production from farms and leave poor countries without. That is not necessarily true as biofuels can be grown from land not really suited to normal agriculture, and might actually become a profit center for tropical countries, much like oil is for the arabs today. Air traffic has the least viable options at this point, as you can't fly coast to coast on an extention cord or use steam power.
In answer to your question: there is a very cool story on the net about this called ';The Long Emergency'; which has the details you are curious about...
unless we find alternate fuels ( that I'm sure we wont until we really need to ) welcome back to the dark ages - but no really the only real things that will be affected ( pretty large issue) is travel cars trucks planes etc. Houses will just move to Electric heat and cooling. Life as we know it would definitely change.