Prince William doesn’t see the point in rushing into space when we have bigger issues to deal with on our home planet!
The future king sat down for an interview on BBC’s Newscast podcast this week and slammed the space tourism frenzy, explaining that the billionaires who are spending planet-sized sums in the next space race should instead be focusing their resources on fighting climate change.
Queen Elizabeth II’s grandson told host Adam Fleming:
“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.”
Preach!
The prince’s remarks come a day after Star Trek alum William Shatner became the oldest person to enter space on Wednesday when he joined four other crew members on an 11-minute suborbital trip in a New Shepard rocket, developed by Jeff Bezos‘ Blue Origin.
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The Amazon CEO took a trip out to space himself this summer, as did Virgin Galactic billionaire Richard Branson. While Tesla CEO Elon Musk has yet to leave the planet, he’s made strides in the space tourism business with SpaceX — which carried four tourists on a three-day orbital mission in September.
Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, and SpaceX are all expected to continue pushing the promotion of space tourism. But if you ask the prince, these billionaires should switch gears and prioritize climate change before it’s too late.
The former Royal Air Force search and rescue pilot explained:
“We’ve got time to do this. We have 10 years of critical time where we have to make an inroad and find new solutions and inspire people who can fix these solutions because past 2030, things get rapidly worse very quickly.”
While the future certainly looks bleak, the Duke of Cambridge admitted he doesn’t think pushing these (very real) negative narratives will inspire people to tackle climate change.
That’s why he’s excited about his signature Earthshot Prize, which will award five winners with $1.3 million on Sunday night — and each year through 2030 — to help them make progress in fighting the climate crisis over the next decade. The 39-year-old mused:
“I think that ultimately is what sold it for me — that it 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.”
As for his future, Will says he has no plans to leave this planet — not even for a casual ride in Bezos’ rocket. He said:
“I have no interest in going up that high.”
We wish more powerful people were this down to earth!
[Image via MEGA/WENN]
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