Daydreams about oil and coal. . .

I’ve been thinking a lot about oil and coal lately, and the proposed Cap and Trade (cap and tax) legislation that would place a tax on all carbon dioxide emissions, mainly designed to reduce energy usage and our reliance on oil and coal.

Part of that thinking was a daydream I had. In the daydream I was jogging next to a park where a large group of anti-oil and coal protesters were gathered. I stopped to watch as they made speeches and raised their fists against evil oil and coal. (Remember this was a daydream.)

Suddenly there was a bolt of lightning, and their fondest wish came true. There was no more oil and coal.

What happened after that was hilarious, better than a comic movie. The plastic lectern holding the speeches disappeared, most of the chairs under the audience vanished. People fell on their butts, shouting and screaming.

And then I realized what had happened. All the things they were using were made from plastic, which, in turn, were made from oil. A lot of them jumped to their feet, only to discover their shoes had vanished, too. Many raced for the parking lot where their cars were parked, but they wouldn’t start because there was no fuel. The plastic dashboards were gone and the seat covers and the rings holding their keys. Eye glasses were falling to the ground as the plastic ear pieces vanished. And then I tried to imagine what it would be like once they got home... stoves, refrigerators, microwaves, TVs, radios, telephones, all would be bare bones, like skeletons without their pretty, shiny plastic (made from oil, of course) covers.

And then my daydream went away. Oh, well, it was fun while it lasted. Still, I was thinking.

What had fueled the fantastic growth of America and Europe all through the 20th century?

What had built the damns, the skyscrapers, the railroads? What had built the airlines, the rockets to the moon? What had fueled the fantastic improvement in our human existence?

Oil and coal, of course.

So then I wondered. . .if we really abandoned oil and coal, what would fuel our future growth? How will we continue the wonderful improvements in our lifestyles? What will pay for our new medicines? What will generate the power, the huge revenues that these anti-oil-and-coal protesters feel they need to build a better world?

Could wind and solar power do it?

I really doubted that. They would help, but they would be only a drop in a bucket compared to the growing needs of a growing world population.

So, what did it all mean?

I was suddenly frightened by the answer. There was no fuel, no energy, including atomic, on the horizon that could produce the vast amounts of power the human race will need in the future. There was nothing that I knew of to replace that evil old oil and coal.

Suddenly my daydream wasn’t funny anymore. It had become a nightmare.     

C. H. Bush, editor