The crowd applauded again, then sat through the orations of several more politicians before a large ceremonial ribbon was cut for the cameras. As the speeches ended, the resources minister stepped over to the front row where Pitt and Loren were seated next to Lisa.

“Miss Lane, it is good to see you again,” he greeted warmly. “This must be a very exciting day for you.”

“It certainly is. I would not have imagined that a working artificial-photosynthesis facility would come on line so rapidly,” she said.

“Your President and our new Prime Minister showed great will in moving things forward.”

“Minister, I would like you to meet my dear friend Congresswoman Loren Smith, and her husband, Dirk Pitt.”

“A pleasure to meet you both. Mr. Pitt, it was you who recommended converting the sequestration plant, was it not?”

“It was my kids’ idea, actually,” he said, pointing to Dirk and Summer, who were making their way to the bar. “We all figured that a positive light might be shone on one of Mitchell Goyette’s past sins.”

The minister shuddered at the mention of Goyette’s name but soon smiled again. “Your discovery has proved a blessing on many fronts, Miss Lane,” he said to Lisa. “We’ll be able to expand our oil sands operations in Athabasca now, as additional photosynthesis facilities are brought on line to capture the greenhouse gas emissions. That will go a long way in abating oil shortages in both our countries. I am pushing the Prime Minister to authorize funding for twenty more plants. How are things progressing in the States?”

“Thanks to the efforts of Loren and the Vice President, thirty plants have been funded, with plans for an additional fifty facilities to be built over the next three years. We are starting with our coal-fi red power plants, which emit the most pollution. There is excitement that we will finally be able to safely burn coal, fueling our utilities for decades to come.”

“Perhaps as important, we have a signed agreement with the Chinese as well,” Loren said. “ They have promised to build seventy-five plants over the next eight years.”

“My, that is good news, since the Chinese are now the largest emitters of greenhouse gases. It’s a fortunate thing that the technology is easily replicated,” the minister said.

“And that we have an abundant supply of the catalyst to make the process work,” Lisa added. “If Mr. Pitt’s NUMA organization hadn’t made the discovery of ruthenium off the coast of Alaska, none of this would be possible.”

“A lucky break,” Pitt acknowledged. “Our undersea mining operation is now up and running, and the yield is very encouraging so far. We hope to mine enough of the mineral to supply thousands of plants like this around the world.”

“ Then we can look forward to a possible end to global warming in our lifetime. A remarkable accomplishment,” the minister said, before being pulled aside by an aide.