This is typical of the hand-wavy peak oil arguments.

An increased richness of culture or an increased scientific knowledge clearly don't require ever-increasing energy consumption.

Oppositely, the reason previous evolutionary jumps involved more energy per capita has been that ... cheaper energy has always previously available (ie, this a correlation, not a causation).

Edit: A modern laptop uses less energy than a desktop machine of twenty years ago, yet the laptop's user certainly experiences a somewhat higher level of "civilization" or whatever one would call it. Just a simple counter-example to "evolution always requires more energy per capita" claim.