My assumption would be the same situation as The Epic of Gilgamesh. In
that myth Gilgamesh sets out to appease the God of the Forest and
thereby gain immortality. Gilgamesh is a hero of ancient Sumeria, but
over the centuries Gilgamesh fell upon hard times. You see, Sumeria's
power was based on the manufacture of bronze, which required large
amounts of fuel. The original hardwood forests of Mesopotamia offered
unlimited fuel, and Sumeria's power was a result of harvesting that
fuel to manufacture bronze weapons and tools. But over the centuries
the trees were harvested and woodcutters had to travel farther and
farther to harvest fuel. This is known as the law of diminishing
returns. The original lesson in unsutustainable economics. The
Sumerians didn't know about ecology or economics, so an angry God was
punishing them for destroying the forest. In the end, Sumeria meets
her extinction and Gilgamesh is shown to be a mortal. The god of the
forest destroys Sumeria and to this day that region is essentially
desert. The Epic of Gilgamesh is the first documented case of a human
caused environmental disaster.

The Romans continued the tradition of unlimited military conquest to
feed their need for fuel. By that time iron was the metal of choice.
Iron required more heat than bronze, and soon the hardwood forests of
the Mediterranean were depleted. Because of their proximity to
waterways, the British Isles were targeted to supply hardwood for
metal smelting. Once the trees were harvested, sheep and goats ensured
the forest could not regrow. A large part of the poverty in Europe
through the centuries was the result of the stripping of resources by
the Romans. Most people are willig to give the Romans credit for
building good roads, but in reality those roads would not have been
built if there was not fuel to harvest and transport to the smelter.

Ironically, the United States is repeating the same pattern now with
petroleum. We have a state-sponsored military that enforces the
harvesting of a fuel and we are leaving nothing for them in return. It
seems the human race has learned very little from history, and at this
rate history will have very little good to say about the United
States.

-- Gnarlodious
http://Gnarlodious.com/