I was immediately branded a Marxist when I cited the following article on a forum. I explained that if it describes the problem, to a certain extent I don’t care who wrote it. This article relates directly to the solution to the biggest problem of our time, Climate Change. A recent NASA report on the most practical solution was likely influenced by obscene wealth.
The first problem with the recent NASA report on Space Solar Power is it ignores Climate Change. Comparing cents per kilowatt hour is not going to matter much after civilization suffers a global catastrophe with inestimable trillions in lost revenue and incalculable human suffering. Fossil fuel interests are human and non-human profit-seeking entities that have gone to great lengths for decades to lie and misinform the public about this to safeguard their investment.
The second problem with the report is it ignores Lunar Manufacture of the components. Providing a western standard of living for a projected population of 10 billion means the industrial activity involved in replacing fossil fuel energy with renewables is a self-defeating feedback loop. Sending rockets (burning hydrogen) to the Moon and building simple antenna farms on Earth is the only way to avoid that loop.
The third problem with the report is the influence of those with Competing Agendas and any acknowledgement of this is ignored. Not only fossil fuel interests but private companies with their own schemes want nothing to do with any legislation phasing out fossil fuels and subsidizing Space Solar. It will hinder their own projects and for those civil servants or others seeking employment with these companies, as many are, it is in their interest and to their credit to work against Space Solar.
While Starship is being mentioned in connection with Space Solar Power by many, this is, in my view, disingenuous. Elon Musk is infamous for having stated in 2012, “Let me tell you one of my pet peeves: space solar power. Okay, the stupidest thing ever. And…-“I wish I could just stab that bloody thing through the heart.” He has never recanted that statement and has a completely different scheme in mind for his company SpaceX.
NewSpace ideology is, at this point, broadly accepted as a for-profit worldview with an LEO megaconstellation lofted by a privately built Super Heavy Lift Vehicle as “the future.” While Elon Musk has spoken much on Climate Change in the past he recently showed his true colors:
ROME, Dec 16 (Reuters) – Oil and gas should not be demonised in the medium-term, Elon Musk, the founder of electric car maker Tesla, said on Saturday, but he also said it was important to reduce carbon emissions to preserve the planet.
Musk, speaking at a right-wing political gathering organized by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party said: “Climate change alarm is exaggerated in the short term,” adding that the environmental movement may have gone too far, causing people to lose faith in the future.”
“The future” is obviously about money. Not averting a slowly unfolding global catastrophe. Having taken part in rescue operations right after a category 5 hurricane I can attest that adding a new category 6 with winds over 192 mph, as is being discussed, is not a good sign. Fires burning around the world, pathogens spreading, the backlash from illegal migration breeding fascism around the world…all this is just the beginning.
Ice on the Moon 