Lethal Trajectories - Michael Conley [33]
“What are the climate-change issues that have him so worried?”
“I’d like to prepare a more detailed report for you, Mr. Chairman, as I’m not sure I can do justice to Jack’s concerns right here and now. I can tell you that Jack is a firm believer in climate-change, and recent satellite information has convinced him we may have reached the so-called tipping point that will make climate-change reversals very difficult. His observations, by the way, are shared by our best scientists at the Shanghai Institute.”
Lin nodded, fully aware of the effects climate-change was having on China across many fronts. “Please continue; I share his concerns and will want to discuss this with you soon in great detail.”
“Jack McCarty is a first-rate thinker and does not pull punches when defending his point of view—I can assure you of that from firsthand experience. I have observed these same attributes in his brother, Clayton. We’ve had dozens of lively discussions over the years on anything and everything. Whatever the issue, they both argue their respective positions with precision and force.”
“Are they close as brothers?” Lin Cheng asked.
“Jack and Clayton are very close. They’re the only two living members of the McCarty family. Their parents were killed in a private-plane crash in the early nineties.”
Wang knew he was digressing, but it was important to convey the closeness of the McCarty brothers’ relationship.
“After receiving his PhD at Stanford in the area of energy and environment, Jack went to Palo Alto to work at Clayton’s start-up company, Advanced Energy Systems or AES. They were pioneers in the design and development of advanced smart-grid energy systems and support devices. Jack worked there as a design engineer and partner until 2009, when AES was acquired by Clayburn Electronics for hundreds of millions of dollars. I can’t remember the exact amount, but it made Jack and Clayton multimillionaires overnight. Jack used some of that money to start his IEE think tank. Since then, I’ve had opportunities to visit with Jack at a number of international meetings on energy and climate.”
“Please, tell me more about Clayton McCarty,” Lin asked, eager to understand a man who might someday become his counterpart.
“Clayton McCarty is an interesting man,” Wang replied. “He was also a Stanford grad—class of 1990 or ‘91, I can’t remember … I know, it was 1990, because Clayton joined the Marine Corps after graduation and served as a second lieutenant during the Gulf War in 1991. He left the Marine Corps in the mid-nineties, and was actually stationed on the Stanford campus for some kind of liaison work for the last few months of his hitch. That’s where I first got to know him.”
“What is he like as a person?”
“He was a regular visitor at our place, and I liked him from the first time we met. He has a brilliant mind and keen appreciation for the big-picture energy and environmental issues of our time. He’s entrepreneurial and not afraid to take risks. I also had the great pleasure of attending his wedding and have had an opportunity to see both him and his wife, Maggie, on two or three social occasions.”
“What about his business and political career, Peng?”
“Clayton made a fortune after going public and selling his company in 2009. He traveled, wrote, taught, and consulted, but from what I could see, he was bitten by the political bug. Americans, as you know, were disenchanted with the gridlock they saw in their two major parties. Clayton must have been one of them, because he was a mover and shaker in building a new Independence Party in California. They became the alternative party for disenfranchised voters from the two traditional parties.”
Lin continued to take notes as he listened attentively to Wang.
“As the oil crisis worsened after 2012 and climate-change issues appeared on voters’ radar screens, the independent movement