This Changes Everything- Again!
Contributed by Robert Shields
The Trans-Alaskan Pipeline (TAPS) shaped Alaska’s economy, and the world with it. What if we could rally around an equally ambitious project that would have similar results? That’s the point of TAPS 2.0, and it’s a pipedream that has become a reality this year, again!
As many are at the end of their ropes, our current economic models have reached the end of the road, and our climate and culture seem to have gone off the rails completely, it’s hard to see a path forward that isn’t a dead end for us all. Fortunately, Alaskans understand the constant state of changing with the seasons. As we know one day winter will come and cover all that we do, we are equally faithful, even on the darkest days of winter, that spring will come again.
The spring of 2024 saw a return to the stage for the 6th annual Regenerative Planet Summit, inventor Daryl Oster. Unlike previous years, held virtually, this year Daryl and his better half, Brenda, spent a whole week in Fairbanks, courteous of the local Pipefitters Union 375 and enjoyed a gracious stay courteous of Pikes Lodge, before giving their presentation at the Pipeline Training Center on Friday, April 27th. A presentation on an innovative concept that would allow us to replace the existing pipeline with one of equal diameter that could one day carry minerals, natural gas, crude oil, cargo, and people across the state and around the globe at potentially thousands of miles an hour. And do so for a fraction of the energy cost and environmental impact of every other major form of modern transit coined Evacuated Tube Transportation Technology- ET3.
It’s an unbelievable idea until you see the April 11,2024 announcement that “China Successfully tests maglev trains in a vacuum tube”, learn Daryl spent time there over a decade ago, realize this is the future happening now, and we are still stuck in the past of single-use plastics and pipelines. With this paradigm shift comes the understanding that where attention goes, energy flows, so we are already working to bring Mr. Oster back to Alaska, hopefully for the Matsu Thunder Festival in Houston, on June 22 and 23rd and then back to Fairbanks on October 5th for the Tour of Future Cities. With support from the business community, we are working to bring up a full-scale model for the 3D experience of ET3.
The Tour in the fall and the Summit in the spring are annual statewide events organized by the Fairbanks, based Alliance for Reason and Knowledge -ARK. Our 10-year mission (2020-2030) is to contribute to ensuring every village, town, and city in Alaska will be thriving according to their needs and abilities through strategic capacity building investments into local living regenerative economies. Our role is one of workforce development with a focus on marginalized citizens. And how the $100K paid now to service them on the streets or in prison for a year, can yield better returns as an upfront 12- month, 12-step investment strategy with wrap around services we call the Good Jobs for a Green World plan.
You may have heard the term “regenerative” in relation to agriculture, where permaculture principles (translations of first nations wisdom about living with the Earth and not just on her) are used to nurture a culture of caring that focuses on renewal and regeneration, which is exactly the opposite of the extractive and consumptive practices we use today. These same economic policies and social procedures can be applied to our modern industrial lives to ensure we can all meet our needs without compromising the futures ability to meet theirs.
The “capacity building…local living” statements relate to a communities ability to grow 80% of the food needs of 100% of their population and, like the TAPS project, let regeneration shape the land-use planning, zoning, education, health care, housing, and economic development strategies centered on zero waste, scaled industry, and distributed clean energy grids that allow citizens to feel safe and secure in this common investment in self-reliance.
For over 20 years I have dedicated my life and career to developing and implementing endgame solutions to the global apartheid that has us locked in a perpetual state of war through scarcity. TAPS 2.0 is a silver bullet solution to responsible mineral development, keeping Alaska wild, and turning the divide between the economy and the environment into a multiplier that allows us to thrive for generations to come. Learn more online or drop us a line.