By Michael Holden
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prince William has thinly criticized the billionaires occupied with a rush for space tourism, saying the world’s great minds should focus on solving the environmental problems facing Earth.
During an interview with the BBC network aired on Thursday, William appeared to criticize Jeff Bezos, the richest person in the world, Elon Musk and compatriot Richard Branson, whose rival endeavors aim to pave the way for a new era of private commercial space travel.
“We need some of the biggest brains and minds dedicated to trying to fix this planet, not trying to find the next place to live,” said William of the space race.
His comments came after Musk talked about missions to Mars and Bezos described their inaugural spaceflight in July as part of building a road into space “so our kids and their kids can build a future.”
“We need to do this to solve the problems here on Earth,” said Bezos, who on Wednesday celebrated boarding “Star Trek” actor William Shatner on his new spacecraft New Shepard.
Talking about ecological issues has become a major cause of the British royal family, and the 39-year-old William is following in the footsteps of his late grandfather, Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth’s husband, and his father, Prince Charles.
Charles, first in line to the British throne, now 72, has been calling for action to halt climate change and environmental damage for decades, long before the topic became popular, which has led to him being ridiculed many times.
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