Firebird 2015 AD depicts a 2015 North America where petroleum reserves have purportedly run dry, leading the United States government to outlaw the private ownership and operation of gasoline-powered vehicles. The setting is a dusty, low-tech version of the American Midwest (filmed in Alberta, Canada) where the primary conflict exists between a totalitarian bureaucracy and "Burners"—outlaw car enthusiasts who maintain hidden stockpiles of fuel and vintage muscle cars as a form of ideological rebellion.

The societal dynamics are defined by authoritarian austerity and resource hoarding. The Department of Vehicle Control (DVC) serves as the primary enforcement arm, patrolling the landscape to destroy non-sanctioned vehicles. While the state claims fuel must be rationed for the military and politicians, the narrative implies that gasoline is actually in abundance, but restricted to ensure population control and mobility restriction. This vision of Earth suggests a political center that has abandoned civil infrastructure in favor of surveillance and state enforcement of scarcity.

As a prediction of 2015, the film’s vision is considered significantly inaccurate regarding resource availability, as the real 2015 was characterized by an oil surplus rather than a shortage. However, critics have noted that it captures the paranoia of the late 1970s energy crisis and serves as a precursor to modern political friction regarding the legislative phase-out of internal combustion engines. While the film correctly anticipated the political tension surrounding fossil fuels, it failed to foresee the market-driven transition toward electric and renewable energy, depicting instead a regressive status quo where internal combustion remains the ultimate symbol of individual liberty.