The green Earth Saver Custom Deluxe gleamed in the afternoon sun. The charging station attendant came out of the small storage type building converted to an office. “Got her all charged up. I even washed it for you since you’re such nice folks. A clean car always drives better I always say.”

“Thank you very much,” Marvin said. He pulled a five dollar bill out of his pocket and handed it to the man. “I see that you recycle water too and this will help show my appreciation for your helping to save the earth with all the things you do.”

“Mister, just between you and me, I think the save the earth stuff is a bunch of nonsense. Those rules and regulations about saving the earth closed my job down and I took this one to pay the bills.”

“What did you do in your other job?” Marvin asked, shaken by the man’s disbelief.

“I was a foreman at an electrical generation plant. The plant couldn’t meet the new quality rules and had to shut down. The whole deal was crooked. The smoke coming from the stacks was clean, but the Congressman in this district had an interest in the bird whackers—uh wind turbines to you—and he got the plant shut down so his propellers wouldn’t have any competition.” The attendant looked at Marvin and shook his head before speaking again. “Somehow that green car seems to fit you real fine. Thanks for the fiver and have a nice day.” He turned and went into the small office.

“Get in the car Molly; we need to go get your grandmother. The plane will land in a few minutes,” Marvin said angrily.

“Daddy, that man wasn’t very happy. I don’t think it’s right for that Congressman to do what he did.”

“We don’t know that’s what happened. That man probably got fired and is blaming it on the Congressman.”

“I remember reading about something like that. I think he’s being investigated for being crooked.”

“Where did you hear that?”

“It was in the paper.”

“Even if the Congressman did do what the man said he did, the wind turbines are better for the plant even if a coal fired plant was shut down.”

“But, Daddy a lot of men lost their jobs,” Molly protested.

“Sacrifices have to be made for the earth’s sake. Here we are at the parking lot. Now we wait on your grandma.” Marvin glanced at his daughter and thought; she’s just too young.  Someday she’ll understand.

Some people were impatiently milling around in the airport waiting room. Others were sleeping in the chairs and a few others were looking out of the windows at the airplane parking pad filled with airplanes. There weren’t any planes lined up to take off and there were no landings.  

Marvin could hear grumbling rumbling through the crowd. He asked a man next to him why the planes weren’t taking off. “All the planes are grounded until further notice,” the man replied.

“What’s the reason for that?” Marvin asked, perplexed.

“The air quality czar has grounded all aircraft because the pollution reading is too high. The engines on the planes produce too much exhaust and that will make the readings worse. Also, the wind turbines are turning too slowly to keep the radar equipment going. The generators can’t be started without clearance from the air quality office.”

“They have solar panels and batteries, don’t they?”

“It’s too cloudy for the solar panels to work and the batteries are down too much to be of any help.”

“My daddy is one of the—”

“Molly be quiet. I’m talking to the man. Don’t interrupt,” Marvin said curtly.  “Surely there is a solution to all of this.”

“There is for sure. If that generation plant that the crooked Congressman forced to close was back operating, none of this would be happening.”

“It’s my understanding that the plant couldn’t meet the air quality requirements and had to close.”

“Yeah right, that’s what the government said. But I know the truth. I was in charge of the plant’s emission control and we were okay until the law was changed so that crooked Congressman could get his wind blade farm going. Any plant within a certain number of miles of a wind farm had to close. Other plants were allowed to stay open under a grandfather rule. Everyone is a victim of that law.” He walked off muttering something that Marvin couldn’t understand and was sure he didn’t want to hear anyway.

“I need to go check on your grandma’s plane arrival time. I’ll be right back.” Why don’t people understand the peril that confronts the planet? Marvin asked silently. Inconvenience and sacrifice is just part of the movement. One day everyone will thank all of us, and a special thanks to Al Gore for having the courage to push the save the earth agenda.

No one was attending the counter when Marvin stepped up to ask about the flight. After ringing the bell sitting on the counter, a pale face appeared from behind a folding door. Marvin thought she looked like an android with her black hair and vacant eyes. “Did you want something?” she asked.

“Yes, my mother-in-law’s plane should be arriving from Seattle and I want to know if it is on time.”

“What’s the flight number?” the face said, her voice sounding mechanical.

“It’s flight 296.”

“Let me see.” She checked the computer and said, “It isn’t going to be here anytime soon.”

“Why isn’t it?”  

“There is a power outage up there. The radar won’t work. The bulletin says that the solar panels aren’t giving enough power due to it being cloudy and the wind turbines are too slow for the lack of wind. The auxiliary power can’t be used due to poor air conditions, so I guess you’ll have to wait. Since it’s your mother-in-law—I’m sure you don’t mind.” Before Marvin could reply, the android disappeared behind the folding door.

Marvin left the counter shaking his head. Molly saw the way her dad was acting and knew something was wrong. “Grandma’s plane is going to be late, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it’s going to be late and I don’t know when it will be here. We’ll just have to—”

“Ladies and gentlemen,” a voice coming out of the ceiling said, “we are sorry to inform you that all flights out of Seattle are grounded until further notice. The power problems and air quality have caused an interruption in the air service there. It is not known when flights will resume.  Thank you.”

“What are we going to do, daddy?”

“Go back home is all we can do.” Marvin eyed his daughter with a defeated look. “We were promised that none of this would happen. Mr. Gore gave us his word and guarantee when he asked us to help save the planet. But I’m sure it will be worked out.”

“I don’t think Mr. Gore is very smart. He—”

“Molly, you can’t talk that way. If you’re over heard we can be in big trouble. We aren’t supposed to doubt the wisdom our great exalted leader. If it weren’t for him we wouldn’t have any of the new power technology.”

“If it wasn’t for him we wouldn’t have been told grandma’s plane is grounded for lack of power.” Marvin could only glare at his daughter.

(To be continued.)

    © 07-03-2008 DEC