Energy

George Bush has decided to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help offset the reduction in production capacity that resulted from Hurricane Katrina. That's probably a good move, psychologically (it will give him more time to act), but I suspect it won't have any appreciable impact on the availability or price of gasoline; the lack of production is part of the problem, but it's refining capacity that will have the most immediate impact on availability and price. Refining capacity was already at its limits before Katrina.

My guess is that we will soon see some very severe shortages of gasoline, leading to rationing, long lines, and angry consumers. To quell the unrest of the populace, George Bush will begin to impose marshall law far outside the confines of where it is now imposed on the Gulf Coast. We'll see the U.S. government, along with state and local governments, do more and more to restrict personal freedoms.

Some people may think I'm crazy to think such things. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm afraid I'm right. It's almost as if Bush and his cronies stumbled upon a means to control the climate...and used it to advance their agenda.

A couple of years ago, I started one of my many failed attempts to write some interesting fiction. One piece is particularly relevant to the last sentence of the paragraph above. Mind you, I was jotting ideas and making notes about things I might include in the book:

Climate Control Service

It's some time in the not-too-distant future...ability to control climate has been attained...hemispheric climate control agencies have been formed by consolidated governments...there are political ramifications of immense proportions, in that one hemispheric climate control agency’s actions have a direct and measurable impact on the other agencies’ actions...evil political powers can try to wreak havoc on the weather of another area, as a military mechanism of control...Middle East gains control of certain climatic agencies in an attempt to develop large areas of arable lands, and to augment their already important control over oil reserves...the crux of the issue is that weather is caused by energy, and there is only a finite amount of energy in the earth’s atmosphere...so, positive changes in one area can create negative changes in another...the bad guys plot to control climatic control services to further their own ends...groups whose livelihoods depend heavily on weather (e.g., farmers) form political interest groups to exert pressure on governments to arrange weather that’s favorable to their interests...farmers & others threaten to create havoc if their demands and expectations are not met (e.g., crop destruction, etc.)...

News report...”Moderate rainfall has been scheduled for the next two days, with accumulations of 2-5 inches planned for the metropolitan area”...”

News report...”Unauthorized climatic interventions have been reported throughout North America by the Climate Control Service; North American President Robert Andressen has ordered the North American Military Protective Agency on full alert and has cautioned European President Jacques Clemente that dire consequences will befall the European Community if these interventions do not cease immediately.”