How is Russia going to protect itself from China if China decides it wants to 'share' some of those resources? 1 Billion vs. 150 million seems like a tall order without resorting to nukes, especially since Russia already gave China its best 'toys'.

Ron, while I believe your comments on the natural advantages of Russia are basicly correct it is not true that they have few environmental or pollution problems.The 70 years of communist management resulted in appalling degradation.
Nancy Lubin wrote a chapter on this subject in "The New World Order" edited by Carol Rae Hansen (1992).
Also,Vaclav Smil's "China's Environmental Crisis"(1993) could be of interest.
I'm sure there is more up to date information around as well.

I think Australia is in a much better position than Russia. As a net energy exporter, Australia stands to benefit from any rise in energy prices.

Oil seeps off the NSW coast are yet to be assayed, perhaps a billion barrels there. The QLD coast is completely unexplored because of the great barrier reef. SA has geothermal energy sources estimated in excess of 50 billion barrels. Every state has massive energy resources close to population centers.

Australia also has vast areas of prime agricultural land that are uninhabited. Not to mention a climate which is warm and varied. Even though we are still in the grip of the worst drought ever Australia still manages to produce enough food for 70 million people. Much of this is energy intensive meat and dairy products. Water is a huge issue, but considering how bad things are now, is it really that critical?

If you consider Japan with only 17% of it's land arable and that's including land for urban and industrial use can supply half it's food requirements, Australia could support a population in excess of 200 million. Of course the lifestyle would be radically different, but that is a matter of choice. Just think about it; we cull 5 million kangaroos every year that go into dog food. Even that amount of meat would be sufficient. Dogs and cats just need a little bit of curry powder.

There is so much excess consumption here it is ridiculous, people just throw stuff away that is perfectly good. Many will loose their jobs, but there are so many areas that there are labor shortages that people will simply have to change.

Social order is the most important issue. How people react will determine their fate. Once people realize how well off they are compared to the rest of the world they will have great incentive to ensure that social cohesion is maintained.

Anyway, moral of this story; you better hurry up and emigrate while the doors are wide open. They will slam shut once the ideals of endless economic growth are seriously challenged.