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As nice as that would be, if we think about it logically it's not at all in the US governments interests for Fusion to work. Suddenly that massive pot of money

• alwa 2y ago
  …vanishes, presumably, because the work that it used to do is now done by this fusion technology instead. Surely the US would like to be the nation to dominate that tech should the moment come, right? Could sure shake up some of the US’ geopolitical relationships, in which the US spends an awful lot to maintain influence over the way oil gets made and sold. That pot of oil money sure creates its share of headaches, and probably means a lot more to smaller nations than it does to the US.
  • esskay 2y ago
    I guess the question would be that assuming the US was to dominate the technology, is that more profitable than a steady stream of revenue from oil exports? Building fusion plants would be a massive money maker initially as everyone races to adopt it, but is it a long term money maker when no doubt other nations will be trying to cash in on it themselves.
    • adastra22 2y ago
      The US doesn’t have nationalized oil companies. The US government doesn’t have skin in the game here. In fact, fusion would make a lot of military stuff cheaper, so if anything they have incentive to adopt it.
      • JumpCrisscross 2y ago
        > US government doesn’t have skin in the game here It absolutely does, just in the opposite direction from OP’s hypothesis. Washington likes cheap oil. It wants high production levels from its producers to keep prices low; producers want high and stable prices.