Excerpt from the Inaugural Address by President Barack Obama, Jan. 20, 2009:
' . . . and to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders . . . . NOR CAN WE CONSUME THE WORLD'S RESOURCES WITHOUT REGARD TO EFFECT. FOR THE WORLD HAS CHANGED, AND WE MUST CHANGE WITH IT.' (emphasis added)
The President's concern about the pace at which the world and the United States consume their reserves of industrial-base resources, specifically resources that are nonrenewable and accessible in finite and diminishing reserves strongly suggests replenishing essential resources that will be lost to future generations is an increasingly predictable fact, with significant 'EFFECT' on the United States and the world's economies and quality of life.
The reality of the dilemma posed by the President is close enough to be in our forseeable future; further, that upon its arrival, will be with us indefinitely. Therefore, the dilemma qualifies for 'Open Government' discussion insofar as 'depletion of nonrenewable resources' can be defined and the 'effect' that will apply worldwide is understood. The issue deserves cross feed now through an 'Open Government' dialogue, 'brainstorm.' or other form of group collaboration, comment and documentation. It warrants being considered in the context of 'climate change' and perhaps still another 'economic disaster' redux.'
Several years ago I wrote a layman-level future history on the same subject, now a blog at:
http://scribe1917x.livejournal.com/4923.html
I also tried to interest young folks by extrapolating the eventual 'nonrenewables' dilemma and relevant technologies in an sf format that can be freely downloaded from the Gutenberg Archive at:
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/18257
'Mike' Moldeven
Comments (2)
Relevant, see entry 'Develop and Implement a National Strategy for Sustainability'' at:
http://opengov.ideascale.com/akira/dtd/3299-4049
Moldeven
Re the President's instruction to 'review' the nation's space programs; also to his statement:
". . . NOR CAN WE CONSUME THE WORLD'S RESOURCES WITHOUT REGARD TO EFFECT. FOR THE WORLD HAS CHANGED, AND WE MUST CHANGE WITH IT." Our planet's diminishing reserves of industrial-base nonrenewable resources, in the light of our increasing capabilities in spacefaring leads to a need to consider both toward a strong potential relief of this developing problem. I suggest that the 'review' include consideration of urgent development of a worldwide capability to reach out to the Asteroids Belt and determine whether replenishment of essential (vital?) nonrenewables is feasible. If it is, let's go for it.
Moldeven.