Because that's whethe people a(was : A simple question)

>Then why aren't the prices rising?:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon%E2%80%93Ehrlich_wager
Taken from the same article
Jeremy Grantham (GMO Quarterly Letter, July 2011) noted that if the bet were from 1980 to 2011, Ehrlich would have won: "Simon would have lost posthumously, and by a lot! (Even of the original five, he is only one for five, having won the least significant of the five: tin.) So, please Cornucopians, lets not hear any more of the Ehrlich-Simon bet, which proves, in fact, both that man is mortal and must make short-term bets, and, more importantly, that Ehrlichs argument was right (so far)."

>Then why are pollution levels falling?: Im not even gonna bother with your source, since its SIMONs book.
Only in those nations that are most technologically (and societally) advanced are levels falling, and even there not ALL pollutant levels are decreasing.
The report from 2009 has stated that six out of ten Americans live in urban areas where air pollution can cause major health problems.
In the last couple of decades, due to the rapid global industrialization of the world the industrial pollution has even spread to Earth's poles. The scientists have already found traces of industrial pollutants in samples of ice cores from Antarctica and the Arctic.
Not only air pollution but ground water pollution has caused much havoc to communities surrounding or down stream from many industrial complexes, resulting in the complete abandonment of several entire aquifers, leaving the communities that once used that water with no recourse but to find an alternative source of water. Lately this has become increasingly prevalent due to the widespread use of the process known as FRACKING:
a.. Fracking chemicals are toxic and can contaminate water from spills or accidents.
b.. Fracking produces hazardous wastewater, which can contain radioactive substances as well as toxic chemicals, making disposal difficult and dangerous.
c.. Fracking requires millions of gallons of water, which can deplete local water supplies.
d.. Fracking can cause natural gas to migrate into drinking water sources, which can cause houses and wells to explode.
e.. There have been more than 1,000 documented cases of water contamination near drilling sites around the country.
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/fracking/
If marine pollution continues to grow there will be less fish, and less fish will cause more hunger in the world.

Marine pollution could also lead to health problems for humans that consume fish which originates from the polluted area.

Many pollutants are directly entering our seas and oceans from urban sewerage and industrial waste discharges.

Deep sea mining is another major threat that could make marine pollution worse in many parts of the world.

Marine environments are increasingly subject to elevated levels of hydrocarbon contaminants due to oil spills.

Ocean acidification has become a major form of marine pollution. Oceans are becoming more and more acidic because of the increased CO2 levels in the atmosphere.
http://pollutionarticles.blogspot.com/2011/05/marine-pollution-facts.html

Additionally there are all the costs and problems attendant on handling the growing masses of nuclear waste being generated by increasing numbers of nations yearly, where only the MOST tech advanced nations have ANY real ideas and techniques for actually storing the waste in deep underground caverns, and even that has many problems yet to overcome.

Clearly, while the US, Japan, Great Britain, possibly EU, and maybe Russia are committed and technologically capable of instituting limits to allowable pollution levels, most of the world is neither capable nor willing to do so. Therefore, while some pollution levels are holding steady or maybe decreasing by some small % point in those Nations, levels are increasing throughout the rest of the world, and will soon get out of hand altogether.

>Because that's where the people are.
Not for much longer...As soon as we have a cheap way to get to space, people will start moving up and having babies, and building habitats, and having more babies...before you know it hitman, well far outnumber you groundhogs.

>Do they? Has that already been established?
Of course it has! Theres a racial imperative to start looking for new territory once hunting starts falling off in a given locale. Well, that happened around about 1910, the last century has been the first tentative human reaching for that next frontier...guess where?

>What if that weren't true?

But it is Where the hell else do you expect us to go? Oh, I suppose a few million can eventually probably settle in the oceans, but theyd damn well better figure how to SAVE the oceans first, cause the oceans are headed for lifeless right now. And a few million isnt about to fill the need for a place for people to go in search of a life worth living, and already weve begun to more than just feel that need!

From: hitssquad
Sent: Thursday, March 08, 2012 9:43 PM
To: spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [spacesettlers] Because that's where the people are (was Re: : A simple question)

--- In mailto:spacesettlers%40yahoogroups.com, "Victor Smith" wrote:
> Getting to them on Earth is NOT though getting easier [...] but more difficult

Then why aren't the prices rising?:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon%E2%80%93Ehrlich_wager

> and more environmentally destructive [with] waste and destruction from smelting and purifying

Then why are pollution levels falling?:
http://www.juliansimon.com/writings/Ultimate_Resource

> why produce goods and materials on Earth

...Because that's where the people are.

> that needs to be used in space?

Do they? Has that already been established?

> off world [is] where they're needed to build.

What if that weren't true?

> The primary reason to do it is freedom to live as you will in a group of like thinking people

OK.