Space, the Final Frontier

In case anyone missed, it,  Andrew Revkin’s post on the possible unintended effects of a renewable energy breakthrough is must reading. Revkin’s provocative thought experiment has inspired a lively conversation on his essential blog, dotearth, with over 100 comments.

Reader reactions have run the gamut, but the one that caught my eye was this one, which suggested that a “world of infinite energy resources…would enable the human species to be decoupled from its home planet.” It then

might be possible for us to leave earth all together and either terra-form other planets or live Death-Star-style in a massive space station. In this respect, there is no known material limit to the universe. Because of this, we could effectively leave the nest altogether and maintain earth as a kind of primitive life reserve. I consider this the ultimate kind of environmental preservation.

Yeah, that’s a thought: let’s colonize the universe.