I imagine it would not have been so dramatic, though. Might have ultimately found our way to the same spot, but a few hundred years longer. It is hard to argue that the incredible energy density of fossil fuels (oil in particular) is not a big driver of our industrialization.
There's certainly a quality to it that has lent itself to the suburbanization of the USA. In the absence of viable electric battery technology, the suburbanization would have relied on street cars and pedestrians.
Which existed. And were ripped up around the time the automobile took over; which has all sorts of theories around it as to why...
I think without oil we'd have higher density cities, better public transit, and healthier populations.
