Protecting the Planet or Destroying the Universe? Understanding Reactions to Space Mining
There is currently a surge in interest from both private and government sectors in developing technology for mining asteroids and the moon (“space mining”). One of the key benefits highlighted by advocates of space mining is that it minimizes the usual problems associated with mining on earth in ter...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2071-1050/14/7/4119/ 2023-08-20T04:00:32+02:00 Protecting the Planet or Destroying the Universe? Understanding Reactions to Space Mining Matthew J. Hornsey Kelly S. Fielding Emily A. Harris Paul G. Bain Tim Grice Cassandra M. Chapman agris 2022-03-30 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/su14074119 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14074119 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Sustainability; Volume 14; Issue 7; Pages: 4119 space mining asteroid mining social license to operate moral foundations political ideology Text 2022 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/su14074119 2023-08-01T04:37:17Z There is currently a surge in interest from both private and government sectors in developing technology for mining asteroids and the moon (“space mining”). One of the key benefits highlighted by advocates of space mining is that it minimizes the usual problems associated with mining on earth in terms of pollution, environmental degradation, and encroachment on human habitats. Two studies—one conducted on a 27-nation sample (N = 4819), the other conducted in the U.S. (N = 607)—provide the first test of the assumed (but never studied) notion that space mining is more palatable to the public than terrestrial mining. Both studies indicate broad support for asteroid mining: levels of support were reliably above the mid-point, and much greater than for other forms of frontier mining such as mining the ocean floor, mining Antarctica, mining the Alaskan tundra, and lunar mining. Unlike terrestrial mining, community attitudes toward mining asteroids were largely non-ideological; support was not correlated with perceptions of ecological fragility, political ideology, or individualistic/hierarchical worldviews. In summary, the current studies suggest that mining companies have a “social license to operate” for mining asteroids, but less so for lunar mining. Text Antarc* Antarctica Tundra MDPI Open Access Publishing Sustainability 14 7 4119 |
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space mining asteroid mining social license to operate moral foundations political ideology |
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space mining asteroid mining social license to operate moral foundations political ideology Matthew J. Hornsey Kelly S. Fielding Emily A. Harris Paul G. Bain Tim Grice Cassandra M. Chapman Protecting the Planet or Destroying the Universe? Understanding Reactions to Space Mining |
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space mining asteroid mining social license to operate moral foundations political ideology |
description |
There is currently a surge in interest from both private and government sectors in developing technology for mining asteroids and the moon (“space mining”). One of the key benefits highlighted by advocates of space mining is that it minimizes the usual problems associated with mining on earth in terms of pollution, environmental degradation, and encroachment on human habitats. Two studies—one conducted on a 27-nation sample (N = 4819), the other conducted in the U.S. (N = 607)—provide the first test of the assumed (but never studied) notion that space mining is more palatable to the public than terrestrial mining. Both studies indicate broad support for asteroid mining: levels of support were reliably above the mid-point, and much greater than for other forms of frontier mining such as mining the ocean floor, mining Antarctica, mining the Alaskan tundra, and lunar mining. Unlike terrestrial mining, community attitudes toward mining asteroids were largely non-ideological; support was not correlated with perceptions of ecological fragility, political ideology, or individualistic/hierarchical worldviews. In summary, the current studies suggest that mining companies have a “social license to operate” for mining asteroids, but less so for lunar mining. |
format |
Text |
author |
Matthew J. Hornsey Kelly S. Fielding Emily A. Harris Paul G. Bain Tim Grice Cassandra M. Chapman |
author_facet |
Matthew J. Hornsey Kelly S. Fielding Emily A. Harris Paul G. Bain Tim Grice Cassandra M. Chapman |
author_sort |
Matthew J. Hornsey |
title |
Protecting the Planet or Destroying the Universe? Understanding Reactions to Space Mining |
title_short |
Protecting the Planet or Destroying the Universe? Understanding Reactions to Space Mining |
title_full |
Protecting the Planet or Destroying the Universe? Understanding Reactions to Space Mining |
title_fullStr |
Protecting the Planet or Destroying the Universe? Understanding Reactions to Space Mining |
title_full_unstemmed |
Protecting the Planet or Destroying the Universe? Understanding Reactions to Space Mining |
title_sort |
protecting the planet or destroying the universe? understanding reactions to space mining |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/su14074119 |
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agris |
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Antarc* Antarctica Tundra |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Tundra |
op_source |
Sustainability; Volume 14; Issue 7; Pages: 4119 |
op_relation |
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14074119 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/su14074119 |
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Sustainability |
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14 |
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7 |
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4119 |
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