Fusion

Early in Reagans first term he called the Soviet Union the evil empire and liberals went apoplectic fearing that he was about to start WW 3. At about the same time he proposed the Strategic Defense System which the liberals laughingly called Star Wars. Reagan wanted to end the almost 40 years of the cold war strategy called MAD or mutually assured destruction. His plan was to develop a missile that could shoot down another missile and he was roundly made fun of by the press and other political figures. The first use of these technology occurred in the Persian Gulf War when Israel using American made Patriot missiles shot down SCUD missiles fired by Iraq. More recently test firing missiles at ICBM’s and up to this point there has been a 50% success rate. With improving technology the hit rate will increase and this may be used to deter first strikes against the US. No one is laughing anymore and those commentators who laughed in the past are silent. When I talk with friends about creating almost unlimited electric power using hydrogen fusion they laugh and call it a pipe dream. The science is solid and engineering follows science. I bring this up in my discussion about global warming but many do not want to hear this as they have a political agenda which only has room for solar and wind. Some day in the future they too will be silent.