My Vision of a More Sustainable United States

In my view of the U.S. in 100 years, the country will have gone through some interesting transitions and technologies that are in their infancies today will have become mainstream. First of all, population will have been stagnant for a few decades and by 2111 will have begun to decline. The Baby Boomers will have been the last generation of its kind in terms of numbers and after they died off population began to slow. This accounts for the U.S. population in 2111 to be around 280 million. In terms of population disbursement there will be a movement inland due to areas on the coasts, especially in the low-lying Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, being submerged by rising sea levels. This will have a profound impact since many major cities will be victimized. Thus, the Midwest will see an influx of people who will begin to congregate around freshwater sources such as the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and the Great Lakes.

The advance of sustainable technology will have the most impact on our future. What is defined today as “alternative” energy will become mainstream energy 100 years from now. Solar power will become extremely important and widespread, with solar panels being built in the Southwest and in Death Valley to power vast swaths of the region. This will be feasible because the initial costs of solar panels will no longer be prohibitively expensive and will allow for infrastructure to be developed so that the solar energy can be spread around the area. We will also have embraced wind energy provided by wind farms placed all over the Great Plains and offshore on the Great Lakes. Those will be crucial for providing power to the increased populations of the region. The U.S. will still manufacture high-end goods, especially green technologies. This will make them cheaper domestically and will provide a competitive advantage when exporting them to other nations in need. Solar and wind energy will be important developments in lessening our dependence on fossil fuels.

In terms of transportation, gas-powered machines will be reaching the point of becoming obsolete. Cars will be electric and will utilize batteries that harness the great amount of solar energy that is being produced. While expensive now, these batteries will also become cheaper as the technology develops, allowing them to be mass-produced and consumed for a reasonable price. Airline travel will still exist but will be severely diminished by the creation of a national high-speed rail system similar to today’s Maglev trains that glide a few inches above the tracks using electromagnetism.

It’s not likely that all of these predictions will come to fruition, but I believe that they are good milestones to strive for in our attempt to adapt to climate change and live in a sustainable future.