Drastic

What if a President instituted a nation-wide ban on the sale of fossil fuel?
In 2028, on a promise to take immediate drastic action, Sadie Brown became President of the United States. Soon, she began to close the oil and natural gas spigots. Uproar ensued: the “market-driven” people shouted, the oil consortium was stealthier but more dangerous, and Better Business Bureau organized protests against her plan.

Many families were divided. In one, the precocious 15-year-old daughter agreed with her father on the impending crisis of global warming, while her mother was a denier. Although they agreed in principle, there was tension between the father and his daughter. She saw her father and the President as continuing business as usual. He believed in President Brown. But his daughter discounted the President as another all-talk politician. In his daughter’s mind, direct action was the only solution –– and her goal. Her militancy unnerved her parents. Could they keep her close and keep her safe? This very real fear, and his admiration of his daughter’s passion, jolted him, as manager of the largest hotel in San Francisco, into taking advantage of his business position to create a large-scale project to help the president’s agenda.

Sadie Brown, a strong black woman with an iron will, steadily worked on her plan. It had to be revealed at the right time. While she trusted her smarts about timing, her base lost patience with her lack of transparency. Their support slowly ebbed away until they turned on her and held rallies demanding that she “tell us the plan.” She heard their cries and was acutely aware of their fading trust but could only hope the perfect time would come soon. Tensions ran high, her poll numbers were declining each day. But she still waited.

Finally, the time arrived. President Brown knew what her master plan was going to create. She knew she would eventually face a battle, a real one. When it came, could she lead her base to hold firm? Would the solution be only a compromise band-aid, or would she achieve her goal for the nation of beginning building a sustainable future?