[marktwain]

Will they be as scrupulous in preserving the natural environment as, say, the governments involved in the Antarctic project have been? Or will they simply exploit the planets they conquer, much as was done to the American West?

The idea that the "exploitaition" of space is somehow bad is insane. It requires that we consider the use by man of any resource to be evil, which is to say that man himself is evil.

One can make an argument that the environment on earth should not be degraded because you owe it to your neighbors not to harm them. But to claim that changing a lifeless planet for one's own benefit is "harm" is insane.

It is saying that rocks have rights.

[alnitak]

Well said. If I may misquote:

"Imagine you are an environmentalist. Now imagine you are an idiot. But I repeat myself".

[riverrunner]

What I have wondered is with how much the wackos hate mankind.

How is it that they can stand themselfs with out doing the right thing and removeing themselfs from the world.

Don't they understand that the world would be so much better off with out them.