THE WHEELS

I waited until dark to head out. With me I took several gizmos that might be useful. My molecular destabilizer, a multi species first aid kit, a subscopic analyzer and such. Everything you're supposed to need in the wilderness of a backwater world.
My wheels were a '97 Buick Century. a common enough vehicle. At least it looked like a Century.
This was actually a replica put together by the boys in Retro-tech, designed to fit in with the local technology. Of course, it has options you just don't get on a factory model. Not the least of which was the power source, a magnetic field containing a miniature black hole, held motionless relative to the vehicle, that was slowly degrading.The radiation emminating from the minuscule event horizon gave her all the power she needed.
I engaged the autodrive, turned on the radio, and began to muse about my selection of options. The windows were tinted and, at night at least, I was confident no one would notice the car was driving itself.
A news item came on the radio. Seems the Chinese were going to be drilling on the continental shelf in the Gulf of Mexico for oil. That was something the United States refused to let it's oil compamies do. (How exactly does that work, I wondered. The waters were international. not owned by anyone. so how could a country stop someone from drilling there? I filed the question away for another time.)
The xenosociologist in me took over at the point, submarining my intent to consider my course of action vis-a-vis my Blurbo compatriot.
Let's see if I have the picture completely understood.
Fossil fuels are running out.
The U.S. is paying through the nose for oil.
Most of that money is going to countries that loathe the U.S. Some seem to be actively intent on destroying it.
The solutions seem forthright and implementable individually or in tandem. Of course, harnessing miniature black holes or tapping directly into the zero point energy field are well beyond the capabilites of this primitve technology, but they could....
Drill for oil in Alaska.
This, as I understand it, is desired by Alaskans. But environmentalists in California don't like the idea. The carribou might have to walk around the facility to get where they are going and the scenic stone and ice shelf might get disturbed. So Californians get to tell Alaskans what they can or cannot do on the land in their own state..
Drill in the continental shelf.
Might bother the fish? Are politicians serving the fish or the populace?
Convert coal to oil.
A vaguely discussed but doable option that no one is doing.
Fission power, called here nuclear power.
Spreading throughout the rest of the world, but here everyone says"Not in my backyard!"
Wind Power
Windmills off the coast could provide electrical power. Unfortunately some of the desirable sites would spoil the view of some wealthy people and powerful politicians. Can't have that.
Solar Power
In limited use, but I don't see any real attempts going on to advance the cause.
Nuclear Fusion
A prototype plant is on the drawing board, but ten years off. No one seems to see a pressing need to move forward, despite the fact that this would be cheap and clean, with no dangerous irradited wastes.
Thermal Depolymerization.
With heat and pressure any carbon based material can be broken down into oil and other byproducts. The various landfills coiuld be dug up and all those wasted organics converted to power.
Geothermal.
The U.S. sits on the only supervolcano not under the ocean. Yellowstone National Park. A limitless source of heat that could be converted to power. Any takers? Nope.
Achieving energy independence by any of these means would have the added benefit of weakening greatly the power base of many countries hostile to the U.S. A number of them have nothing but oil to back their power. Strike at the demand, render their export useless, and these countries would fold like an accordian.
Sometimes the best weapons are neither diplomacy or a gun. Nothing. I've heard. succeeds like success.
And the path to follow seems abundantly clear.
A disturbing side thought.
The so called bad guys seem long on action, short on talk.
The so called good guys seem long on talk, short on action.
Democracy in action. Democracy Inaction.
My line of thought was interrupted as I noted I was approaching our destination.
Back to work....

RECOMMENDED