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| # 36 History in the making. |
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If you’re my age or older then you will remember when President Kennedy announced back in the early sixties that within the decade, America would land a man on the moon.
Today, 1/2/06 President George W. Bush said his ultimate goal is to completely end U.S. dependence on imported Middle Eastern oil and to reduce American consumption 75 percent by 2025. History is in the making today and opportunity is knocking very loudly. This huge US policy change puts New Zealand in an amazing position and we should take every opportunity to capitalize on it.
We are a small country in the South Pacific with a seriously clean green image.
We have a long and proud history of being top class number eight wire inventors of the highest calibre.
We have an equally enviable record of producing some of the world’s top academics (Rutherford just to name one) from such a little population base.
We have a very high rate of over-all achievers, entrepreneurs, and just plain old fashioned hard working buggers, per head of population.
But we also have one of the greatest needs of all, our Children and Grandchildren have to be careful going out in the sun, due to the gapping whole in the Earths protective skin (the Ozone layer) overhead. This is directly attributable to the way we have treated our atmosphere over the last two hundred years and according to the latest UN report on Climate Change it’s already a lot worse than we first thought.
But it’s not yet damaged beyond repair. We as a Nation need to be at the forefront of this coming energy revolution and lead the way, because the way I see it we are either leading or following and I would rather lead.
The UK think tank and top level UK Government advisor www.foresight.govt.uk recently released its report titled “Intelligent Infrastructure Futures” this is a best guess look at the next fifty years, check it out, it’s worth a look.
Basically it gives you four different options, Perpetual Motion, Urban Colonies, Tribal Trading and Good Intensions.
They (Foresight) believe it will be a little bit of each one mixed together, so there’s something there for everyone’s taste. But I think, not necessarily to everyone’s liking.
All of the options come down to one thing, “Oil’s on the way out and then this is what are our choices are”.
Now if Tony Blair’s just got his copy of this document, then you can bet old George W. has one just like it, too.
If they have finally lifted their collective heads out from other peoples sand, then they are about to undertake the HUGE investment and MONUMENTAL task of totally changing the way we do things, and in less than nineteen years.
Phew, even when you say it slowly, it’s a bloody big job and hua of a lump of money. (The current investment in the oil industry is approximately 3 Trillion US dollars)
So come on all you Kiwi shedies, tinkerers and back yard mechanics.
You engineers, scientists, dreamers and thinkers.
Come on all you Mums and Dads and Grandparents too.
You Greenies, Tories, Liberals, Commies, Socialists and Capitalists get together on this one.
The Media, Universities, Investment houses and Banks, architects and builders lets go.
Come on Helen, get this mob into line and let’s get some constructive help from Government and then we need to organise some serious seeding finance.
All research and development related to solving this issue should be tax free right now, that should draw in some serious overseas investment, don’t freak about the lost taxes your losing, Helen, the payback in the long run will be in the trillions. But don’t tie everything up in mindless red tape either, the job is hard enough as it is and we only have 19 years to sort it. We probably only have six months to be considered first off the block, then after that, we are just another hanger-on.
The way I see it there are three tasks,
1. Invent another environment friendly fuel or better yet a whole range of fuels.
2. Figure out how to strip all the carbon and other nasties from the atmosphere and find somewhere to put it.
3. Maintain our current standard of living while we do it.
There’s a little bit of Bert Munro in every one of us, just give us the chance to prove it.
Our children’s and countries futures are depending on it.
But then, that is “just an old trucker’s point of view.”
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