The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Underground City by Jules Verne: wrong in exchanging her fuel for the gold of other nations!
I know well," added the engineer, "that neither hydraulics nor
electricity has yet shown all they can do, and that some day
these two forces will be more completely
utilized. But no matter! Coal is of a very practical use,
and lends itself easily to the various wants of industry.
Unfortunately man cannot produce it at will. Though our external
forests grow incessantly under the influence of heat and water,
our subterranean forests will not be reproduced, and if they were,
the globe would never be in the state necessary to make
them into coal."
|