1994: The 103rd Congress passes a sweeping set of environmental laws known collectively as the "Green Laws." The American Green Party becomes the first significant third party in over 100 years, controlling 20% of the Congressional seats.
1997: The "golden age" of environmental awareness is short-lived, as the worldwide oil shortage forces many industries and utilities to convert to much dirtier coal. Strides are made in solar and wind generation of electricity, but it doesn't come fast enough to make up for the loss of oil.
2004: The Free Oil States are legally recognized, and the rest of the United States looks toward an oil-less future. A federal research push produces breakthroughs in solar and geothermal energy.
2016: The Food Riots. With the breakdown of central authority, environmental law enforcement goes out the window. Many animal species are driven to the brink of extinction by a combination of famine and hunting.
2018: The near-total depletion of fossil fuels brings industrial pollution to a halt; the development of algae farming slows the erosion of farmland. The American Green Party, just as vocal as in its heyday but considerably less powerful, concentrates on the preservation of wildlife.
2019: The Greens form the first "GreenSpace" - a wildlife preserve protected by armed guards and security devices to keep out hunters and other "environmental hazards" in southern Colorado. Three more GreenSpaces are founded by the end of the year.
2020: As the GreenSpace movement picks up steam, so does a vocal "Hunter's Rights" campaign. GreenSpacers are accused of "letting women and children starve for some bleeding-heart cause." Confrontations between the two groups become increasingly violent.
2026: In the end, the hunters' superior numbers prevail. The last guarded GreenSpace, located in Montana, is overrun. The remaining environmentalists go underground.
Today: For the past nine years, a state of guerrilla war has existed between hunters and environmentalists. Now calling themselves "Eco-Guerrillas," the environmentalists have taken to laying traps for hunters, using life-like dummies of popular game animals to lure hunters in, then ambushing them. The hunters respond with greater firepower and travel in numbers. And the end is nowhere in sight...
Weaving in and out of traffic on Highway 101, driving much of the way on the median strip, the man outdistanced pursuing officers for nearly an hour and a half and triggered several collisions before he was captured.
The 110-mile chase ended when the car - which had blown a front tire on Highway 101 near Candlestick Park and left a gouge in the pavement and a trail of parts across the Bay Bridge - pulled up Interstate 80 in Emeryville and lurched to a stop on the center divider of Powell Street.
The driver leaped from the car and fled on foot, but was captured shortly thereafter by two pursuing motorcycle officers.
--San Jose Mercury News 4/18/85