“But wood alcohol has its drawbacks. We may burn hydrogen someday. Or learn
to store electricity in less weight and less space. Or store energy in a flywheel.
But all of those, even hydrogen, are simply ways to store energy. It still leaves an
energy problem.”
“Hydrogen, too? But you said we would burn it. No?”
“We’ll burn it for some purposes; in some ways it’s the ideal fuel; its only
ash is water vapor. But, Ma’am, we don’t have hydrogen; we have water-and even with
perfect efficiency-never achieved-the energy you get out of hydrogen by burning it
cannot exceed the energy you must use in getting that hydrogen by electrolysis of
water. So you must generate electricity first.”
“I see. No free lunch.”
“Never a free lunch. But the energy problem can be solved several ways . . –
through renewable resources. We’ve been using nonrenewable resources-coal and oil
and cutting trees faster than they grow.”
“Renewable resources-Windmills and water power and sun power?”
“Wind and water power are fine but limited. I mean effectively unlimited
power. Such as this new wrinkle of thermoelectric power from the temperature
difference of deep ocean and surface ocean. But there aren’t too many really
convenient places to do that. You named the one energy that is unlimited and
convenient anywhere. Sun power.”
“So? What desert is convenient to the Gary steel mills?”
“Not desert, Ma’am; the Sierra Club wouldn’t like it.”
“I plan to tell the Sierra Club that they are not the government of the
United States. But in stronger language.”
“I look forward to hearing you, Madam President.
The Sierra Club loves deserts and hates people. But our deserts aren’t sufficient.
Sun power, yes-but unlimited sun power. In orbit.”
South Africa Enraged
United States Surprise Return to Gold Standard at $350 per Troy Ounce of Fine Gold
Has
Bourses in Turmoil
“New Policy Obvious Concommitant of
Return to Balanced Budget,” Says
Treasury Secretary Spokesman
“The Way to Resume is to Resume.”
By ADAM SMITH
Finance Editor
WASHINGTON-The Treasury Secretary, after reading aloud to the Press the President’s
brief announcement of resumption of specie payments immediately at $350/oz.,
emphasized that this was not a tactical maneuver to “strengthen the dollar,” not an
auction of bullion such as those in the past, but a permanent policy consistent with
the administration’s total policy. “A return to our traditional policy, I must add.
A century ago, for 15 years, war caused us to suspend specie payments-but never with
any intent to accept the vice of fiat money. Since 1971, as sequelae to 3 wars, we
have had a similar problem. By letting the dollar float until the world price of
gold in terms of dollars settled down, we have determined what could be called the
natural price. So we have resumed specie payment at a firm gold standard. God
willing, we will never leave it.”
This was in answer to the London Times correspondent’s
frosty inquiry as to whether or not the Secretary thought anyone would want our gold
at that price. The Treasury Secretary told him that we were not “selling gold” but
Page 234
promising to redeem our paper money at a gold-standard price. The Times’ question
was inspired by the fact that at the close of market Friday the London fix was $423.
195 per troy ounce, with the Zurich fix, the Winnipeg fix, and the Hong Kong fix
(the last only hours before the Washington announcement) all within a dollar of the
London fix.
PRAVDA: “-.capitalistic trickery-”
Moscow has not had a free market in gold since pre-1914 but, as a
gold-producing country, its response to our resumption policy has been even more
acid than the shrill complaints from Johannesburg. The Zurich gold market did not
open today. London opened on time but the price dropped at once, with the first
purchase at $397. 127, which slowed but did not stop the decline. Winnipeg opened an
hour late; the reason became clear when the Prime Minister announced the tying of
the Canadian dollar to the U.S. dollar at one-to-one-a fait aCCompli as the two
currencies have hunted up and down, never more than 1% apart, for the past several
months.
The timing of the announcement gave the world a weekend in which to think