New neighbor
Many space agencies and private space companies see the Moon as a treasure trove of resources to use for outposts or long-term settlements. This has caused some scientists concern, as the harvesting of moonshine or minerals could damage their environment through pollution or immediate destruction.
Conservationists are already having a hard enough time protecting landmarks on Earth – so keeping the moon safe is a whole new challenge. But Flinders University archaeologist and space researcher Alice Gorman has an idea: She pleads in an essay on The conversation that we should make the moon a person in the eyes of the law.
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Giving legal personality of the month is an idea that is out there, but it is not unheard of. The law offers companies personality, as do many non-human things, Gorman writes. The Whanganui River in New Zealand, for example, is protected by legal personality, and appointed trustees speak on its behalf.
That same model, Gorman states, could keep the Moon safe from issues like the recent Executive Order of U.S. President Donald Trump that stimulated monthly mining operations.
What is death
In her essay, Gorman goes through various aspects of personality to make the case of the month. With curators in place, mining outside the world could be regulated to ensure that the Moon is not stripped bare in the process.
“We could abandon the idea that our moral obligations cover only living ecologies,” Gorman writes. “We need to consider the Moon as an entity beyond the resources they can use for people to use.”
READ MORE: Can the moon be a person? As lunar eclipses fade away, a change of perspective can protect the Earth’s ancient measure [The Conversation]
More about the month: Mining of moon ice could irreparably damage the lunar environment
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