Assume that you are George W. Bush's senior science policy adivosor. (This
means that you are NOT an anarcho-capitalist or even a libertarian -- try it
as an exercise for fun.) Now assume that you have become convinced (which
wouldn't be hard to do) that one of the most rigid constraints on US foreign
policy is the industrialized world's dependence on Middle Eastern oil. In
recent briefings you have become despondent over the intractable nature of
the conflict between the Enlightenment cultural values you hold as a
scientist and the Islamic revivalist movement that is the most dynamic
political and social force throughout that region. You want to propose some
means of decreasing the West's dependence on fossil fuels.
Question: What would you propose?
Is a government initiative on the scale of the Manhattan or Apollo project
something that could address the problem? If so, what would its R&D targets
be? You would want to develop R&D goals that would require the least
disruption of current social and economic life, so the use of as much of
existing modes of transportation as possible should be desirable. You want
maningful results as soon as possible, with a reasonably high chance for
success.
You have the president's ear. What would you say?
Greg Burch
Vice-President, Extropy Institute
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