By way of background, I am currently working as a biomedical engineer and have previously worked on various aspects of the space program, so this is the vantage point from which I first began to notice that Obama’s energy policies were not adding up.Let’s look at things from the present administrations point of view: The earth’s climate system is under a dire threat from man made pollutants. Furthermore at some time we will reach a tipping point in which an irreversible change will occur initiating a runaway greenhouse effect. Under these circumstances reasonable people are called upon to support a reduction in the use of fossil fuels: Oil, coal, and gas. So the obvious question is where does our energy come from? In his book ‘Hot Flat and Crowded’, Thomas Freidman answers this question by saying we might get 5-10% from renewable sources (wind, solar, tides, etc.), but the rest must come from, ‘innovation’. In other words, nobody knows. Maybe if we just throw enough money at the problem a miracle will appear.
Yet despite Thomas Freidman’s literary slight of hand (‘innovation’) to which the current administration subscribes, there is an answer to the clean energy problem and it’s been around for quite some time. As we are all aware of, during the moon program beginning in 1969 samples of lunar soil were routinely collected and brought back to earth for analysis. One of the more remarkable findings was the discovery of large quantities of Helium-3 (He-3) on the lunar surface which do not exist on earth. Later on in the mid eighties someone figured out that He-3 could possibly be used as a fuel for fusion reactors as it is highly energetic and would produce very low levels of pollutants. In fact it’s been estimated that one ton of He-3 could run the entire American economy for a year. Yes, going to the moon to mine HE-3 and building fusion reactors to use it is not something that could be implemented tomorrow, but with enough time and financial resources it is an answer to today’s clean energy needs, and I might add that at this time it is the only known possible solution. What I have just written is no scientific secret, in fact it has been rather widely discussed in the popular science media, and is the motivating rational behind the Chinese moon program.
So why then if Obama is so concerned with the environment has he killed the American moon program? Here is my answer and you can take it for whatever its worth. I believe that Obama has no interest in solving the problems of pollution or possible global warming threats to the environment. I believe that his interest in these affairs is purely as a political vehicle to be used to push his agenda of creating world governmental structures as a means of limiting the power of Western governments in ways which he cannot possibly do at a national level.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the following comment made by Bill, ex military:
Yes the big Zero in the sky is canning our future prospects for technological superiority. The space program is in chaos with no firm programs in sight; thousands to lose jobs here in my county, with thousands of more jobs lost due to the trickle down. And as he does this, Russia today has the first flight of its fifth generation fighter plane, the Sukhoi T-50, which is designed to compete with the F-22 STEALTH fighter, which Obama has canceled. To rub more salt in our wounds, in a NATO exercise, the Eurofighter Typhoon easily trounced and destroyed our primary (and old) fighter, the F-15.
Yes, the pie-in-the-sky president is hell-bent on destroying us, and it will take years to take back, rebuild, and recover all the ground we will lose. And did I mention he wants us to rely on Chinese rockets? Yes, they will be going to the moon. And the first with a MILITARY MOON BASE will have a distinct military advantage. If we don't act now, we may never recover.
