One of the paramount lessons of history is that every human empire, whether military or economic, eventually falters and declines. In time, civilizations and the cultures within them are ultimately judged by the remaining artifacts that are left behind. Since the Industrial Revolution in the United States, the machinery that litters many barren landscapes has not only become a lasting testament to the industry and ingenuity that shaped a nation, but to the ecological carelessness, social stratification, and economic greed that could destroy it. Millennium from now, how will history judge us after the well runs dry?