Speaking at Brookings on the economics of climate change, Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew remarked that “the cost of inaction or delay is far greater than the cost of action.” The fact of the matter is that there is no national or international consensus among leaders on what, if anything, to do, and paradoxically, consensus is necessary to prevent global warming from exceeding two degrees Celsius and to avoid greater catastrophes.

Even more pressing than agreeing on clean energy policies is addressing drought. No amount of energy, clean or otherwise, will materialize a drop of potable water where there is none to begin with. If the amount of nature-provided water is insufficient to meet demand in non-coastal areas, current or projected, there is presently no practical way to increase the supply. Inevitably, this will lead to unprecedented tensions and losses, and in some cases –war.

Given these ominous portents, perhaps we should refocus our attention on hydrogen’s other property, namely that it is one of two elements in a water molecule. Hydrogen, not oxygen, is the key, for the latter is in the atmosphere while the former does not exist in elemental form on our planet. It must be freed from a compound, and that costs time, energy and money.

For that reason, and in view of the existing political necrosis, it seems in right order to revisit some of the most controversial concepts ever proposed. Foremost among them is the case of Stanley Meyer and his Resonant Electrolysis Cell System. For the uninitiated, this short bio, video and synopsis of his work might help them understand who he was and what he alleged to have accomplished, and in all fairness, this article summarizes the objections of his detractors.

But his gadgets, expired patents, and the testimony of reputable persons on his behalf remain. Surely among the thousands, if not millions, of brilliant scientists everywhere and anywhere, one must be willing to accept the challenge to definitively prove or disprove Meyer’s work. The stakes cannot be higher; if in the affirmative the dis-assembly of seawater into its two elements will become routine and profitable, and so will the reassembly of pure water in inland areas far from any coastline. Essentially, we’re talking about the conquest of drought.