Matthew Simmons and Daniel Yergin disagree as to whether oil supply will be increasing or decreasing by 2010.

However, the little recognized real issue is what geologist John Atcheson has called a “Ticking Time Bomb�. Methane, released by the rapidly melting permafrost in the arctic, is a greenhouse gas twenty times more potent as a cause of global warming than carbon dioxide. Last month scientists announced that an area in Siberia, the size of France and Germany combined, reveals permafrost melted in the last five years to a degree not seen since the last ice age, 11,000 years ago.

Hurricane Katrina appears to be a precursor of growing future storm damage potential due to climate change. In addition to accelerating planetary warming, melting frozen pockets of methane, released as “burps�, threaten to snuff out all mammalian life in the arctic. Worst case in as little as 15-25 years! Methane clouds would eventually drift south, endangering all life on the planet.

Given the inability of our government to respond, the private sector can, and must, lead the way. What is needed is an urgent effort to develop and implement carbon free energy systems on a crash basis. Breakthrough new technology can end our dependence on fossil fuels and is being developed in underfunded private laboratories all across the world. The urgent requirement is abundant quantities of venturesome capital by farsighted individuals and organizations.

Mark Goldes
Chairman & CEO
Magnetic Power Inc.
Sebastopol, Calif.