Antarctica is “protected” by the Antarctic Treaty from becoming anything economically useful, just as the Outer Space Treaty ties all hands when it comes to exploitation of off-planet resources. Having said that, I do agree with the idea that colonization of the last continent is great low-hanging fruit compared to life on an airless rock. There is one exception though: in space you can’t hear an environmentalist screaming. An airless rock would be outside their grasp; can you imagine the fit green groups would throw over mineral extraction in Antarctica? Some microscopic critter that looks almost, but not quite, like some other microscopic critter would be enough to get governments to protect the pristine wilderness from the evils of economic activity.
