George Epstein [02/11/2003]

By George Epstein

Ferdinand and Isabella had it right when they splurged on the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. Thomas Jefferson decided 300 years of not knowing what North America contained was long enough. He sent Lewis and Clark to find out what was on the left side of our continent. Most recently, John Kennedy stood before the American people in 1961 and declared that we would put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. He didnt get to see Neil Armstrongs small step, but he was the right leader to set a colossal goal and enable mankinds great leap. The Columbia tragedy reminds us of the true cost of mankinds quest to know what lies beyond. As we have heard over the past two weeks, each of those crew members would have wanted us to continue to do big things, to expand our reach. But what are the Big Things we should be pursuing? Space exploration is certainly part of the mix. What wonders might the rest of the solar system hold for us? That is one quest we should continue.President Bush gave us another suggestion in his State of the Union. The hydrogen and oxygen driven, pollution-free car sounds super. Unfortunately, this goal sets the bar too low. It takes a pile of electricity to isolate hydrogen to be used in such a vehicle. That electricity will have to be generated by plants that burn fossil fuels or require nuclear fission. Perhaps it will reduce the total amount of pollution by moving it from cars to electric power plants, but it certainly doesnt eliminate problem.The sun is the most powerful and efficient energy producer around. It is a huge nuclear plant, but completely different from the one at Seabrook. Our power plants use nuclear fission to break atoms into pieces to generate energy, but leaving huge volumes of radioactive junk that will threaten our health for millennia. The sun uses nuclear fusion, converting little old hydrogen atoms into slightly larger helium atoms to create energy. Now if a lot of helium gets out, we might all start speaking in those Donald Duck voices, but otherwise, fusion is clean as a whistle and could truly result in unlimited clean power.Nobody knows how to create a cost-effective fusion power plant. Nobody knows whether it is even possible. But that is what a great goal is taking a big risk to achieve a huge reward.The Bush initiative against AIDS around the world is absolutely the right thing to do. It will save untold numbers of lives and reminds the world that America is not only the toughest guy on the block, but the nation that does more for the rest of the world than any other 10 countries combined. Did you see the "West Wing" episode where President Bartlet wants to declare that hes going to cure cancer and his staff talks him out of it? Now that were swallowing $10 billion worth of Lipitor to keep our cholesterol down and taking all sorts of high blood pressure meds, and even occasionally exercising, we know that most Americans have at least the choice of not dying from heart disease. Cancer is what will get us. The quest to kill cancer would be a worthy one for a great leader. The worlds population is 6.3 billion people today. Ten billion is right around the corner. Controlling the worlds population solves a myriad of problems. More people mean more war, more pollution, more starvation, more disease, more traffic, and more and more. What is the right number of people? How do you achieve population control without infringing on individual rights or religious beliefs? I dunno but thats what makes it a quest. Its hard to do, but the benefit is immense.Unlimited clean power, the end of cancer, and the earths population under control I like my three quests. How about you? Look up from completing your tax return, take your hand out of the popcorn bowl and think about the big picture. We have a 21st century and a third millennium to think about. What are the Big Things that mankind should be doing today to make the world better tomorrow? George Epstein is from Madison.