[sgeisler]

I doubt this will _always_ be the case, but it is for now.

If we ever want to go beyond earth we'll have to figure out how to live independently from natural habitats and their ecology. One puzzle piece will probably be hydroponics (another HN frontpage thread from today). Others, like efficient temperature management adaptable to hugely different environments and high density and long term energy sources (e.g. fusion), have yet to be developed. I actually think researching these technologies is more important than saving earth. By all means, slow the decay so we get there, but eventually someone will fuck up anyway and we'd better have colonized the solar system by then.

In such a future clean air would be as much a tradable commodity as water and food are today. There are two ways of dealing with tragedy of the commons: remove the tragedy through coordinated action or let the market remove the commons. Looking at our history coordination and selfless cooperation are just not really a viable option long term, they only work intermittently.