Jeff Bezos amazed after his short trip into space with a proposal for climate protection: Heavy industry should be moved from earth into space. Critics are skeptical.
Jeff Bezos did it: The Amazon founder was successfully launched into space with a Blue Origin rocket on Tuesday. After eleven minutes, the adventure was over and Bezos came up with new ideas down on earth. This time it was, among other things, about the topic of environmental and climate protection. In an interview with the US broadcaster MSNBC, Bezos suggested moving “polluting industries” into space in order to preserve the earth.
“It will take decades to achieve that, but we have to start with it. Big things start with small steps,” he said after his flight into space. With his space project, the US billionaire wants to make a contribution to the preservation of the earth. After his excursion into space, Bezos was enthusiastic about the blue planet again.
Jeff Bezos is enthusiastic about the beauty of the earth
He raved about the “beauty and fragility” of the earth that he had observed: the atmosphere also appeared “so big” from the earth’s surface. If you look down from above, “you can see that it is actually incredibly thin, it is this tiny, fragile thing,” emphasized Bezos. “As we move around the planet, we damage it.”
This phenomenon is called the “overview effect” in space research: astronauts become aware of the beauty and uniqueness of the planet when they look at the earth from above, but also how small humans are in the universe. Often this is accompanied by a new sense of responsibility for the planet.
Whether the Amazon founder’s ideas on climate protection really make sense is controversial. Simply moving the pollution from Earth to space sounds more like moving the problem than a solution to critics. Instead, they called for more efforts to be invested in climate protection measures on earth. It is easier to switch to renewable energies here than to send heavy industry into space. The 57-year-old Bezos also admits that this project can no longer be realized during his lifetime.
Criticism of climate protection activists on Jeff Bezos’ space flight
Bezos and climate protection – that is a complicated topic. Last year, the richest person in the world, with a fortune of more than $ 200 billion, made a donation. Thereupon he was accused of “greenwashing”, that is, the attempt to outweigh the environmental sins of his group with a comparatively small payment and thus to look better in public.
Even for his excursion into space, there had been criticism from climate protectors. The emissions from space companies are huge, the scientific knowledge gained from private companies is initially rather low, as they are primarily looking for opportunities for space tourism. The US news broadcaster CNN was not the only one to view the flights from Bezos and Richard Branson before: “This seems a strange moment for the richest people in the world to use their monstrous resources for an enterprise that has no immediate benefit for most of society Has.”
The billionaire remains convinced that space travel can and should make a decisive contribution to climate protection. His aim is to “build a path into space so that future generations can do incredible things in space,” he said. His space company Blue Origin is planning two more space flights later this year.
Swell: / / AFP
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
