Brian, You have given a lot of thought to the world's situation.

Can you summarize any practical strategies that will take us from where we are to where we need to go? I think one of our major problems will be solved- the energy crisis. As for the political crisis, I can only hope.

I have been a television engineer for the past 35 years. I have watched the transition of television from Standard definition to High definition develop for 25 of those 35 years. Yet most people will say that the transition has taken place in only in the last 5 years. I think this is what is happening with electric transportation. In 1990, I attended the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas and everybody from Sony to RCA to JVC were displaying the latest HD cameras and monitors, but no one was buying because it was too expensive. And every television station manager in the nation was terrified that they would have to pay for all new equipment; and broadcast to a nation who could not afford to buy the monitors to watch. They were right and that is why it took so long. I bought a 40" HD monitor for the college I work for in 2001 for $7000.00, ten times what they go for today. Electric cars will be here soon and when the tipping price point is reached, the transition will be fast and dramatic. It will happen with electric cars as dramatically as it happened with HD.

If I drive out 100 miles to Sweetwater, Texas, I see gigantic windmills as far as the eye can see. My house sits on top of the Barnett Shale. I get a check for about $700 a month* from the gas under my house. It represents 23% of what ever is pumped out of my 1 acre. It is estimated that the natural gas will be pumped from the Barnett shale for the next 80 years. The energy from the natural gas will run electric plants which will charge up my electric car. 10 years from now, we will be buying electric cars like we are now buying HD monitors. I am not being optimist. I've seen it before.

Last night on CNN, one of the regular commentators had it right, the remedy for weaning ourselves off oil is built into the system- higher prices. If gas hits 6 dollars a gallon, we will look, and find, an alternative. America is blessed because we have abundant natural resources. So as bad as it can get world wide, we are still a very fortunate society.

I think energy consumption, which is driving so much conflict in the world will not be as big an issue in a few years. But politics is forever.

* distribution of the revenue for the natural gas in Texas is one of the fairest distribution of wealth I have seen- because virtually every homeowner in Fort Worth and the surrounding areas own the natural gas right under their property.


PS: It isn't very encouraging to think that collectively we are so interested in the Royal Wedding that virtually every network and PBS station carried the whole ordeal for hours live. You would have thought we were watching mankind land on Mars for the first time.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein