Switched

Our main heroes are two smokejumpers. One is a Black African born in a boma in Tanzania. The other grew up during the Great Depression in Oklahoma. They lose their jobs when the base closes. They part and reunite years later and have a profound impact on the world. Our heroine is a young Chinese AI expert who defects, marries one of the heroes, and uses AI to solve tough problems.

This novel highlights the importance of electricity to modern society. The electric grids of the Western world are in peril because of the pursuit of Net Zero (zero CO2 emissions) by replacing fossil power systems with solar and wind. The sun does not always shine, and the wind does not always blow. Wind and solar must have fossil backup that are being shut down. Our heroes lose the battle to prevent the US electric grid collapse. Without electricity, nothing works. The grid collapse crashes the USA economy, causing devastating damage, poverty, and hardships like now exist in the developing nations. Our heroes work for the next several years to help restore the grid and return the US to a developed nation.

In Africa and the developing world, millions die every year because they don't have clean cooking fuels. The world has done little to prevent these millions of deaths. An equal number of deaths occur each year from waterborne diseases caused by unsafe water and sanitation. Millions also live in poverty because they do not have access to electricity, which is essential to provide jobs to overcome poverty.

Our heroes bring clean cooking fuels, electricity and safe water to Africa. They develop low-cost reliable SMR nuclear electrical system to bring electricity to the poorest areas of the world. This brings industry and jobs, which creates explosive growth that changes the developing world into an economic powerhouse like the prior developed world.