That’s the way it should be.

Washington DC 2209. Sea level has risen by 3 metres. The National monuments have been displaced, and whatever is left from the Reagan Nation Airport is now underwater. The President of the United States needn’t take more than 10 steps out his back porch to watch flow by, the toxic waters of the Potomac River.

The number of climate change refugees has been on the constant rise since 2009, but chronic disease outbreaks due to increased population density and decreased access to clean water keep population numbers in check. The region is in great debt—all the money collected from taxes is being used towards keeping the waters from engulfing the city, creating shelters and emergency plans to protect Washington from ruthless seasonal storms and fighting constant disease outbreaks. No money is left to fund the region’s climate change prevention program.

Supermarkets are full and the population is depressed. What people want is here, what they need is missing. Hybrid cars and biofuels just didn’t do the trick.

A teenager walks by the White House, glances at the solar panel coated roof, That’s the best they could do?

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Now, Washington DC 200 Annus Abeo. Society has changed quite a bit since drastic national measures were put in place during the Year of Change. Human greed and carelessness have been replaced by wisdom and environmentalism. Respect can now be gained by diminishing your carbon footprint. People are physically and psychologically healthier.

Methods of carbon sequestration have reduced the amount of harmful greenhouse gases present in the atmosphere, and the compulsory internalization of externalities has reduced the carbon footprint of DC’s industries to a near zero. Surveys show a net improvement in the city’s air and water quality. Fish swim freely in the Potomac and Anacostia River.

Eat locally is D.C.’s new motto. People walk and bike to the farmer’s markets that flood the streets of the city. The air is clean, the streets are peaceful. The chirping of the birds cover the low hum of the solar powered tramway. Who would have thought the air would one day smell so good?

Every household in the city relies on natural reusable energy to power their needs. With plate glass windows, solar panel rooftops, grey water catchment systems and geothermal heating, all needs are covered. Waste is an ancient word that can only be found in history books. Everything is reused and restored. The loop is complete.

Children run around the green city’s gardens playing Raise Your Own Tree as their great-grandparents watch them thinking, That’s the way it should be.