CLIMATE CHANGE A GLOBAL RESPONSE

CLIMATE CHANGE: A GLOBAL RESPONSE Even as American corporations were "throwing" billions of dollars, at DENYING Climate Change, it would seem that the "evil" Socialists, of Europe, had taken a different route. With trillions of Euro's, from the Socialist economy, the party had, already, cleaned up dozens of cities, routing traffic underground, while providing un-restricted healthcare, for every citizen. In major cities, pollution was dealt with by routing gasoline, and diesel, powered traffic, underground, as well as using air filtration, to remove exhaust fumes. As the climate began to change, with summers getting hotter, and winters, colder, the Socialists had begun the process of moving the civilian population underground. In order to avoid the popular, western, propaganda, image, that such "underground bunkers" would be prison camps, the Socialists arranged to place high def camera's, on the surface, even as the party began perfecting the technology, of window sized projection screens. It would be no time, at all, before the "tunnel dwellers" would forget that they were living underground. Especially when the government had projection panels monuted, in the ceilings, providing an excellent view, of the sky. It would seem that Global Warming would give the Socialists the "perfect excuse", to place ancient, and abandoned, mine tunnels, back into use. AND, thanks to the modern innovation, of ultra-violet light, even plant life began to prosper, deep underground. All of this, while American defense contractors would argue for spending trillions, of extra dollars, to combat what the defense industry saw as "Clear, and Deliberate", preparations, for war. Maybe even Nuclear War. It was when the Socialists INVITED inspectors in, to view the growing accomplishment, that the world proclaimed that America was just "Crying wolf!", over rumors of impending war. Sure, the Socialists verified that many citizens were moving underground, however, the problem the media had, was in presenting the new cities, as the harsh dictatorships, which science fiction had predicted that such places would be. The Socialists would point out that, not only were living plants an attempt to make the place look more appealling, however, the party would, also point out that most of the plants, as well as the water supply, including streams, brooks, and waterfalls, were all part of the oxygen reclamation process. When the media would ask "What is the purpose of all of this underground living?", the Socialist leader would say "Two reasons. Number one: The surface is becoming less habitable, by the day. Unless positive action is taken, Earth WILL become the next Mars, or worse, maybe even Venus." The second reason is Research. These citizens, inside these complexes, are, actually, field-testing our deep space equipment. We are learning, by doing, what will work, in outer space". When reporter would ask "What if a citizen, or a family, WANTS to return to the surface?" The Socialist would put on a bright smile, as they said "Members, of the press, this is NOT, I repeat, NOT a prison camp. If a citizen wishes to depart, we, simply, ask the citizen to complete an "exit survey". With this, we have a better idea of how to make the replacement citizens feel more at home." The Socialist would add "The idea is for citizens to WANT to live, and work, here". In the West, however, political cartoonists did their best to portray the underground cities as World War 2 death camps. This, even as the scientific community had nothing, but praise, for the Socialists. In fact, the idea of "Beat the Heat", of summer, and "Beat the Shiver", of winter, caused other nations to begin copying the Socialists plans. What concerned Washington D.C. was the fact that the Socialists not only polled DIS-satisfied "customers", but that the party, regularly, surveyed contented citizens. Not doubt, such actions were atleast PART of the reason why the Socialist space program would leap more than a century ahead of the American space program. While N.A.S.A. was busy, running projections, and quizzing scientists, about what SHOULD work, on distant planets, The Socialists were leading the way, in both construction, and modification, of equipment, based upon the replies, from REAL citizens. The contrast was simple. At N.A.S.A. the computers PROJECTED how many breaths of air a colonist SHOULD need, per day, then the computers projected the cost. By contrast, the Socialists published reports, stating which activities drew the oxygen usage, as well as what modifications, to equipment, which scientists made. The report would list five different models, and how each compared. Between these mechanical air purifiers, and the gardens, many Europeans entered the underground cities, yet very few exited. One of the things, which the Socialists would report on was how safe citizens felt, within the cities. Sure, there was the danger, of Earthquakes. However, compared to the dangers, of the surface, some, Earth, movements, were ruled to be of little consequence. Still, even as summers grew increasingly HOT, and winters became bitterly cold, the Climate Change Deniers simply began boating, between seasons. The more miserably HOT the summers became, the closer the Climate Change Deniers sailed, to the North Pole. Colder winters would find the Climate Change Deniers boating deeper into the tropics. While even the Socialists agreed that neither solar, nor wind, power were "reliable", especially by night, what the Socialists also reported was that the more that industry, and human beings, moved underground, the more the surface came to look more like a national park. Still, nuclear power remained under CONSTANT debate. In fact, hydro-stations began coming on-line, even as Europe debated nucclear power, and the DANGERS this represented. When European pollution levels dropped, by 80%, and, thanks to hydroponics research, "copied", from the U.S., then super-sized, by Europeans, the underground cities began importing less, and less, food. When an Associated Press reporter was invited to spend just thirty days, underground, the reporter thought they would go "stir crazy". Instead, the reporter found themselves forgetting they were, even, underground, except when making reports, on the status of the underground communities. The one time when the reporter stated that they were relieved, to be underground was the day when a Force Five storm ripped across the top-side countryside. While the storm caused well over a million dollars, in damage, the population cheered the Socialist report of "Not one human life reported lost." Despite such successes, American billionairres were "pumping" their life-savings into denying Climate Change, while, at the same time, hospitals were setting up summer, emergency, centers, to aid citizens, who were suffering from the heat. This, even as Europes citizens were "sitting pretty", inside the climate-controlled, underground, cities. This, even as surface area's were being converted to farm land. Once Socialist Europe proved its success, the Asian nations followed suit, moving populations underground. Once the asian people saw the cost savings, from underground living, and working, the people were happy to move underground. Un-like the Socialists, however, the Asians neither installed air purifiers, nor other, modified equipment. Even as the atmosphere, over Asia, began to clear, the report was confirmed, that most of the Asian underground cities power was coming from the burning of corpses. Still, it would take Asia's lands centuries to recover. When America took the shameful, top, position, as the world's worst producer, of Climate Change, conditions, a progressive president would ask for volunteers, who would be willing to follow the Socialist example. The president was hoping that atleast one, American, city, would be interested in the project. The president would be surprised when 75 cities signed up. During the construction process, no one cared that the head, of the engineering team was a Socialist. In fact, were it not for the multi-million collar, negative ad campaign, depicting the Socialists as Russian "commies", as well as depicting the world, as a dying, waste land, under communist control, no one would have even noticed the Socialists, who worked with the teams. Yes, the energy business was determined to keep the "Status Quo". Problem was, the energy business had neither the support of the White House, nor of the American public. When, from somewhere, in the energy community, the idea, of assassinating the president, and the vice president, came forth, in the idea of allowing energy producers "friendly forces", to take control, of the White House, the "head", of the energy companies, would warn "Such TALK does NOT leave this room. ANY act, against the president, and no amount, of your money, will buy you anything more than a nice view, from your cell, as you await execution, for Treason." When the source would say "I was only suggesting an idea", the "head" would caution "Be more careful, in your remarks, and suggestions, in the future". When another industry official would ask "They cant arrest us, just for having a discussion, can they?" The "head" was firm. "THAT discussion is OVER!" The "head" turned attention to the matter of American cities, which were ASKING to move underground. As the president was portraying the situation, the new "city dwellers" would be "pioneers", blazing the way to successful colonization, of other planets. When the "head" would ask "How do we DETER this idea", then added "With-OUT hurting, or killing, anyone?" When one of the subordinates suggested "Take all th fun out of life" The "head" shot the member a deadly look. NO, the cities had to be disgraced, but in such a way which would cause Americans to FEAR the very idea, of living underground. Although, at the STATE level, there were plenty of ways to stop such a project, the problem was the presidents "grass roots" support, for the concept. Since the negative ad campaign, showing Communism, failed to illicit the necessary fear, a few groups suggested planting explosives, at the construction sites. This idea, however, was abandoned when a hired bomber was un-able to escape an un-stable tunnel, before a weaker tunnel gave way, setting off the explosive, pre-maturely. After this, when psychology was applied, hopefully, causing people to believe that the tunnels COULD "close in", leaving the people trapped, like rats Only a few people dropped out of the project. For those citizens, who remained with the project, federal supplies, of food, water, and so on, were shipped in. What the media found hilarious was how, even as the Climate Change Deniers were saying "There is no PROOF, of Climate Change", the media would report that the deniers vid-links were based out of the North Pole. When the Climate Change deniers asked "Who cares", and the media woulld ask the deniers "Why dont you report from downtown ********?" It would take studio cameramen all of five minutes to expose the phony video, even as it tried to portray that the denier WAS reporting from downtown USA". Thankfully, the denier was at sea. If they were not, they, probably, would have been lynched. Even as American society moved into the comfort, of the bowels, of the Earth, rumors surfaced that the Climate Change Deniers had moved deeper into the Amazon forests. What no one knew about was the hundreds of billions, of dollars, which the deniers had spent, on building their own, personal, compounds. Compounds, built from the profiteering, of charging Americans $5.00, to $7.50, per gallon, for gasoline, valued at only 65 cents. The profiteers had planned, well, too. They had made certain that, even as construction proceeded, that the tall, old-growth, tree's, which provided a thick, leafy, cover (and protection from the sun), were protected from harvesting. Only one fool had clear-cut their compound, thinking that a simple tarp would provide cool shade. Ofcourse, this fools plan MIGHT have worked, except for the fact that the profiteer had raped the daughter, of a villager. As a result, of this attack, no one would work for the man. Result, with no fuel being delivered, to run the generators, which powered the air conditioners, any, remaining, workers had vacated the compound, as well. Once the food, and water, were used up, the profiteers dying vision would be to see the girl, they had raped, as well as her village, watching the profiteer die. By contrast, the other profiteers were much more intelligent. They just spent most of their days lounging in pools. While these criminals lounged, the Army Corps of Engineers was busy both shoring up old tunnels, while digging new tunnels. America, like Europe, was moving underground. While the surviving nations, of the world, did all they could, to reverse, or atleast minimize, the damage, some nations populations just fell, to an increasingly oppressive heat. Once the world moved underground, though, the "push" was on, to re-connect the continents. In fact, this is the how, and why, that a bizzarre, unknown, place was located. And under, of all things, the Atlantic Ocean. The original, sub-surface, plans called for the construction, of "tube shuttles". Shuttles, which would race, back and forth, under the sea, between Europe, and America, inside air-pressurized tubes. The problem began when the first five tubes, cut, into the rock, travelled less than X-miles, from the American East Coast, when each team had to terminate digging, when they broke through, into sub-surface caverns. After tubes number 6, and 7, were moved ten miles south, then number 8 was moved twenty miles, beyond this, still, the tubes opened onto the caverns. It was only when tube, number 9 was moved thirty miles beyond the other tubes, that number 9 missed the caverns. Thankfully, being in the cool comfort, of the forty degree Earth, scienitists examined the caverns, in an attempt to understand WHO had built the place. While hoping to find construction blue-prints, or even abandoned, military, plans, the construction crews were left baffled when they found writing, inside the caverns. The problem was that the "language" was like nothing which the scientists had, ever, seen, before. An additional problem was added to the "mix", when computers brought down, to aid operations, and set up in the coldest places which the sub-surface had to offer, just kept crunching the prints, as they were scanned into the machines, yet, no matter how much was scanned, the machines just kept reporting "No Matches Found". As a result, the sub-surface place was measured, and the shuttle tubes were built, around the caverns. No one is, really, certain, of just WHERE the idea, for reducing Greenhouse Gas came from, but the idea, of blowing holes in the atmosphere, to "vent" the gas, to outer space, gained wide-spread approval, for its ingenuity. To test the theory, the decision was made to test the "venting", over an area, where the gas was at its highest levels. Now, granted, the first, five, holes were blown over an area, of only 100 miles, the effect was slight, but significant. Even with just ten percent, of the local gas, vented, to space, local temperatures began dropped to a more livable level. When ten missiles were used, to blast a hole, over the center, of the main body, of gas, the "monster" cloud was sucked out, into space, to dissipate, harmlessly. A few people, who had no knowledge, of solar radiation, had to be prevented from leaving the underground, atleast until the ozone closed back up. While additional missile launches brought the level, of Greenhouse Gases back to a more livable level, some people wanted to just return to their previous lives. That is, until the government spoke. "What good have we done, to begin decreasing the problem, when we are prepared to return to the surface, and start aggravating the problem, all over again". When asked "What is the solution?" The government would say "We need greener technologies, more electric tools, less carbon monoxide, and far less people, living on this planet". When N.A.S.A., and the European Space Agency, agreed to develop the next generation, of space vehicles, as a joint project, the end product was incredible. A new fleet, of colony ships, was created. But not like the ugly brutes, of the 1960's, through the 80's. The new ships would have cargo carried, to orbit, by what were little different from pick-up trucks. The new fleet would stay in orbit, once assembled, and fly between the planets. In order to reduce travel time, to planets, the new fleet would have the legendary warp-drive engines installed. Now, the planets would be mere hours apart. Even the president was surprised at how many science fiction fans, wanted to be among those, travelling to other planets. Since none of these people had any idea of how to actually LIVE on another planet, the United Nations would have to build an international training center, where the "freaks and geeks" would learn how to survive, by planting, and harvesting, their own food. (Something the computer programmers never considered, here on Earth.) When some people began breeding, without thought of consequences, these people were sent top-side, to live in the harsh climate, which un-controlled population had caused. Not surprisingly, once these people got a "taste", of what we had created, top-side, the people agreed to be much more careful. Since the need, for sex, was inevitable, though, everyone, in the complexes signed an agreement, to enjoy "safe sex". When the surface temperatures returned to normal, farmers, who had been working the hydroponic gardens, returned to the surface, and began planting crops, again. The difference was that, NOW, the farmers were using moonshine, not diesel, to power tractors. What no one could figure out was the reason why the Climate Changer Deniers started putting even more money, than ever, into "petroleum futures". Especially when petroleum was going OUT of use, world-wide. The governments heard rumors, that the Climate Change Deniers were preparing for a massive shift, in the population, BACK to the surface. The C.C.D. persons were banking that, when people returned to the surface, internal combustion cars would begin consuming fuel, again. The oil barons, it seemed, wanted not only to be ready, for the return of internal combustion, but they wanted to be in CONTROL of the process. If they controlled the oil supply, they could dictate not only prices, but natioonal policy. In essence, they could rule the world. The oil barons had visions, of the public, waiting in miles long lines, to pay $25.00 per gallon, for gasoline. Yes, it would be a beautiful sight. What the oil barons failed to count upon was the international governments moves, towards cleaner energy, including fuel cells, moonshine, solar, and so on. Even as the planet healed itself, of the effects, of the Greenhouse Gases, new technology was creating new ways, of cleaner living. A group, of international scientists, was even working on a new type, of lubricating oil. As a result, when mankind returned to the planets surface, the need, for crude oil, would be reduced, by 99.9%. The planet had gone "Green", on a scale no one would have believed possible. To the oil barons, though, this was a "living nightmare", since they, now, owned a "sea of oil", which was all but worthless. The dream, of watching people BEGGING for fuel, and willing to sell family members, into slavery, or worse, for just a few gallons of gas, vanished, even as more alternative fuels came on the market. As for the dream, of watching the public, gladly, paying out $25.00 per gallon, for gas, this was no more than a "pipe-dream". It would not come to be. This was, never, made more apparent, than it was the day when the staunchest opponent, to moonshine, decided to change policy, and adopt the cleaner fuel. Moonshine production would, ofcourse, be regulated, to ensure quality, but, with the planet reaping the benefits, there were not so many restrictions, as there might have been, under Prohibition. With people living, happily, both off-world, and underground, even the Vatican showed its support, for these dynamic ventures. Sure, some said that man was "abandoning" God, for science, but even the pope dis-agreed with this, saying "The Lord is everywhere. Not just on Earth, but ALL over Creation. Anyplace, where man may walk, the Lord is at our side". As the colony ships continued to move people off of Earth, especially when ships sensors detected live-able planets, and Earths population decreased by 75%, still, people wondered what lay beyond the stars. In time, Earth would revert, more or less, to being a HUGE, preserve. With new growth tree's, and plants, and with large farms, supplying both the "local" population, and harvesting crops, for newly established, planetary, colonies (Until they had their own farms started). Those, who settled the un-inhabited planets, were warned, prior to departure. Rampant breeding would be DEALT with. Earths history would NOT be repeated. Even if that meant orbital bombardment. Mankind would be "kept in check", by "Any means necessary". In time, and, as predicted, by visionairies, the Papacy would agree to move most of its operations to what many considered no less than a "space going palace". A "mobile Vatican", as it were. The pope would agree that, where the people went, the church should follow. Even if that meant, to the stars. The pope would promise that Earth was not being "abandoned". The church was just making its services more available. As to where it would, all end? The only thing, that is for certain, is that the oil barons began selling lands, to locals, for the best price they could get. In the end, however, more than a few of the profiiteers, endeed up working manual labor, for meals. Compounds had to be sold, when revenues did not come near meeting costs. As to whether it is true, that some, of the oil barons chose to take their own lives, whether than to live as "commoners", is anyones guess. Just as it is anyones guess, that other, oil, barons, ended up digging ditches, clearing dung, or waiting tables, for a place to sleep, and meals. What IS known is that, in time, Earth would return to her former beauty, now that her resources were, no-longer, being strained. She would return to being the "jewel", which she was meant to be.