In the years to come, essential raw materials from crude oil and arable farmland to clean air and fresh water will be in short supply. Wealth among nations will be more accurately measured by access to natural resources and raw materials than by the value of goods produced and services available. Based on shortages of essential raw materials, sustained prosperity of some nations is only achievable through deliberately depriving other nations of theirs. Animosity between nations will trigger debilitating resource skirmishes around the world, which no nation will win. Willingness by the United States to assume a leadership role in solving an imminent global crisis by assessing the impact of dwindling natural resources, analyzing alternatives from natural resource conservation to increased use of renewable resources and reliance on green technologies, and then executing a national energy policy defined from a truly global perspective is urgently needed. The stakes have never been higher.