“He’d better believe it,” he murmured to God as he reached for his private line. There were illegals to round up and organise. “Haven’t had this much fun in years!”
He chuckled to himself as he punched in the number of the first of many calls he would make that day and rocked back to see that God still smiled, as his first call was answered.
3. CABINET
They stood as President Mason Tanner entered. He sat and opened the meeting.
“Gentlemen,” and with a brief nod to Secretary of State, Delice Barton and the minutes secretary, “and ladies, you’ve now had time to study your briefs. We need to nail our response to the two big UN initiatives well before they go to a vote, so I asked Harry Fromm to join us. Welcome Harry. How are Felicity and Sam?”
There were murmurs of welcome as he answered, “They’re fine, sir, thank you.”
The only hand offered was that of Defense Chief, General Magnus Devaurno. “Great to have you aboard, Ambassador.”
“OK,” began Tanner, drawing their attention. “Delice has been delving behind the rhetoric to uncover what other nations are really doing. But first I ask Ambassador Fromm to give us a short assessment of the current climate change proposal before the UN. He warned me it’s a shocker. Harry?”
“Good morning,” Harry began. “In a nutshell, the proposal is worldwide zero emissions equivalent within five years. It has wide support, but as you would expect, there are dissenters and I have already indicated we would need to study it further.”
“China won’t accept that!” Tony Arino, Secretary for Homeland Security was sure, but Harry had been there.
“No,” he corrected him. “Not this time and that’s the big one. China is leading the charge and of course that makes them look good and we could be seen as the bad guys.”
“Are you saying the UN is now looking to China for leadership?” asked Tanner. “What can we do about that?”
“Bring it on!” snarled Arino. “It’s about time we faced off with those commies, Mr President. That’s where the damned pollution is coming from; the fucking Chinese. Fix them and we fix the problem!”
Tanner ignored Arino. “Harry?”
“Mr President,” Harry continued evenly, “Tony is right that China and India are the biggest polluters, so they will make or break this initiative. But China is converting to renewables faster than any other country.”
He looked to Delice for confirmation.
“They are starting from a low base and expanding rapidly,” she said. “So they are able to keep their old generators going while they build new ones with cleaner technologies. That way their emissions reduce as a percentage. Their per capita emissions are currently twenty-five percent of ours and that number will go down. I think they can pull it off if anyone can.” She smiled wryly at Tanner. “They don’t have an electorate to please.”
“But how come they are leading this agenda?” Tanner insisted.
“Chinese initiatives,” Harry offered, “present new challenges to this administration. We’ve made no secret of our discomfort with China’s emergence and they can use this issue to isolate us if we stay out.”
“I don’t think they can isolate us, Mr President,” offered Delice. “I would put Europe and even Russia in our camp.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure. Europe is still talking solidarity with us as a nod to NATO.” Harry continued, “But our lack of commitment to emissions targets in the past embarrassed Europe, particularly Spain and Germany…and Russia is still smarting over Syria. And I am not sure of Japan…”
“You can’t compare those piss-assed countries with the US!” complained Arino. “A crippled child could walk across any of them in half a day! We have to move freight and there’s no substitute for diesel…shale oil is damned expensive, but what else is there?”
“And not sustainable!” interjected Vice President, Wayne Myers.
The way Myers turned on Arino revealed an old animosity and Arino reacted in kind. “We need new crude oil and Antarctica’s where we should be looking!”
“We’ll be living on Antarctica if we don’t embrace renewables!” Myers retorted and looked to Harry for support. “Is there a move on to dump the treaty?”
“No, no mining in Antarctica…yet.”
“What’s so special about fucking Antarctica?” Arino turned his vitriol on Harry. “What do you think those Slopes are doing down there, Fromm? Playing snowman? Get real Ambassador, they’re looking for oil and so should we!”
Harry flushed but held his composure. “Arino, you know as well as I do, the Chinese are bound by the same treaties we are. As far as I know they are researching historic atmospheres.”
“Crap! Have you seen the cores?” He glared at Harry who stared back. He had no answer and did privately suspect the Chinese were positioning themselves to be ready to stake claims should the treaty be revoked, as he suspected it would be eventually.
Arino grabbed his thought as if he had heard it. “I thought not, and we pussyfoot around them again. It’s pathetic!”
“OK, folks,” said Tanner, moving on. “So where is the US effort in all this Wayne?”
Wayne always had a smile but this time his customary wisecrack was not funny. “It seems that man is the first species in the history of this planet to predict its own demise.” He laughed and tapped his notes. “We have the technology to prevent it but lack the wisdom to use it! This document is a tribute to ignorance, stupidity and plain pig headedness.” He picked up the papers, glanced at Tanner and passed them along the table.
As they sifted through the handout and began reading, Magnus Devaurno surveyed their bowed heads. He despised them all. ‘Celebrity trumps reality. What a joke.’
He smiled to himself. His time had come.
Myers was speaking. “You may remember,” he said, “that my brief was to put together options that would allow us to sign up and still hold the electorate on side, but as you will see, there aren’t any, short of a state of emergency or martial law.”
“Forget it!” Arino interrupted. “Let it work through the market. It works and always will if we don’t fuck with it. Let market forces do it.” He thumped the table. “That’s the American way and don’t even think of trying to legislate coal and oil out of business, the Tea Party won’t stand for that…and martial law! You’ve got to be joking!”
“I know you’re too busy shuffling shares to read the science, Tony,” remarked Myers. “We adjust or we’re dead and as Harry says, China is offering the world hope and unless we catch up pronto we lose the lead.”
“And lose the election!” snarled Arino.
“Arino,” Myers snapped back. “If we don’t get this right you’ll have an ocean beach right outside your Second Avenue office!”
“Thanks Wayne,” Tanner said tersely. “Can we get back to your brief?”
“Sorry Mr President,” he apologised, “but I have seen the evidence and am convinced that unless the planet achieves zero emissions and quickly, we will face rapid decline into unprecedented conflict. We must act now.”
“That’s impossible, dammit!” complained Tanner. “How can we… anyone expect industry to go from near total dependence to nil in the five years?”
“This is insane!” barked Arino. “You want to make every home, industry and car obsolete? Americans will not give up their Suburbans! You’re dreaming!”