NICK DENTON weighs in on the enviro-wacky idea of designating the Moon a wilderness preserve:

I just don’t get this, or the people who are worried that we’re going to contaminate Mars. The moon is an airless, lifeless, pockmarked ball of rock. I would far rather industrial development took place off-planet, or in Antarctica, for that matter. English meadows, or California redwood forests, are far more valuable to me than a wasteland that most human beings will never visit. And, if anyone is worried that development will spoil the view of the full moon, we can always put the industrial zone on the far side.

Amen.