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CHAPTER 20
CHORLEY’S CLIMATE EMERGENCY
Chorley decided it was time to continue her journey to Laurasland. Her old vessel, ship captains and the crew were still available. They were waiting for the ocean ice to disappear. The warming began and it was time to set sail once more. Mericus and Christop brought in some black rocks in the dead of night and stored them deep in the ship’s hold. There was no sense in getting held up by wind blowing in the wrong direction. They would cast off to begin the journey the next morning. That evening, Chorley sent a message to the Scientific Conference headquarters in Laurasland. “Scientists on the way from Urasia to Laurasland have determined that the earth’s temperature is increasing rapidly due to the burning of black honey, black rocks and rock gas. Further, our chief scientists have definite proof that the gas, carbon dioxide, is the leading cause of the runaway warming--STOP. Furthermore, scientists in Fraland have determined that the chemical TTD is the leading cause of sheep deaths in their nation. It should be banned until more research is completed--STOP.
The Headlines read:
Lil’ Redhenny had added the NINETY-SEVEN PERCENT phrase. She had received the same message from 97 of her 100 Urasia and Laurasland waystations. Each waystation IT manager was considered a scientist or engineer by Lil’. Ninety-seven IT managers had reported that it was indeed warmer at their individual way stations that day than it was the day before, according to their outside thermometers. So, it was obvious to Lil’ that the earth was warming and that there was a great agreement on something. She didn’t know what that something was, but it sounded important and should be communicated quickly or they would all die.
When Chorley read the headline, she chuckled. “What an idiot chicken. That’s not what we said at all. But it may be useful.” She sent a message to the Kannucks saying, “This might be helpful in getting your citizens to switch from black honey and black rocks to cleaner hot rocks. The hot rocks don’t give off carbon dioxide. It would certainly help the environment in Kannuckland.” She received a response that she wasn’t expecting. “We think we can tax the citizens by issuing burning permits. We know they will keep burning but we will let them use the permits as a sort of currency that we will control. Could be big business.” They continued. “We have set up a Permit Exchange in the Laurasland city of Pigcago. We think this is going to be the future of the energy business.” Chorley hadn’t thought of that possibility. She liked the idea of taxing the “burners” but wasn’t keen on the business idea. It wouldn’t reduce the burning much at all she thought. Then another message from the Kannucks arrived, “We have not been able to convince our fellow Kannucks to stop burning. The Pigcago Exchange crashed. We think our problem is really our population growth. There are just too many Kannucks for the land. We are taking action.” Chorley snorted, “Of course, I already knew that. It’s about time the Kannucks woke up to the science of population growth.”
The central government of Laurasland was quick to react to the headlines. The politicians immediately demanded the banning of TTD. Shipments were suspended. Congressional hearings featured the book, The Silencing of the Little Lambs. It was read into the government registry as proven science. Thousands of chemical workers lost their jobs. The economy started to react negatively.