During an interview with BBC News on Wednesday, Prince William slammed those pushing for space travel, like billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, arguing that the smartest people in the world should be focused on “repair[ing]” earth rather than commercial space flights.
“We need some of the world’s greatest brains and minds fixed on trying to repair this planet, not trying to find the next place to go and live,” the Duke of Cambridge asserted.
“I think that ultimately is what sold it for me – that really is quite crucial to be focusing on this [planet] rather than giving up and heading out into space to try and think of solutions for the future.”
William told the BBC’s Adam Fleming that he had “absolutely no interest” in going to space, arguing that a “fundamental question” regarding the carbon cost of the flights should be considered.
The prince claimed there is “a rise in climate anxiety” among young people whose “futures are basically threatened the whole time.”
“It’s very unnerving and it’s very, you know, anxiety making,” he said.
Prince William said people should try to “remember how much it meant to be outdoors” as children and argued people should realize “what we’re robbing those future generations of.”
William said his father Prince Charles “talked about climate change a lot more, very early on, before anyone else thought it was a topic.”
He said Charles had a “rough ride” when discussing “climate change.” William added that “it would be an absolute disaster if [Prince] George is sat here talking” about climate issues in decades down the road.
On Wednesday, Actor William Shatner, who famously played Captain Kirk in the “Star Trek” series, launched into space on New Shepherd mission NS18, operated by Jeff Bezos’ aerospace company, Blue Origin.
“Everybody in the world needs to see. It was unbelievable. Unbelievable,” Shatner said while appearing to hold back tears after returning to earth. “The little things, but to see the moon come whip by and now you’re staring into blackness. That’s the thing. The covering of blue…the sheath, this blanket, this comforter of blue that we have around us…and then you rip off a sheet off of you and you’re looking into blackness, into black ugliness, and you look down and there’s the blue down there and the blackness…it’s just there is mother earth and comfort and there – is there death? I don’t know.”
“It was so moving to me,” the 90-year-old actor added. “This experience, it’s something unbelievable.”
