New topic on SSI

From: Bob Hardman [mailto:Bsanctuary@...]

> "... -to improve the standard of living, ..."
>
> I wonder what this 'means' in light of currently estimated "high lift
costs".
> -seems to me that, at first anyway, much the opposite could be true.
>
> Essentially and ostensibly all very clean and high tech, but in all
liklihood
> extremely frugal as well.

Of course one of the main points of High Frontier thinking is to do an
end-run around high lift costs by emplacing industrial infrastructure in
space and tapping resources already in space.

I think in the short term we can expect space colonists to certainly be
frugal with things like nitrogen and carbon. Maybe somewhat frugal with
hydrogen (although our situation here seems much improved). They will
certainly have to be frugal with certain substances like wood or rubber or
plastic. But even from the beginning they can be quite free in their
consumption of energy, and that's a major factor in standard of living. And
long term (well into the era of asteroid use), I don't see any reason for
them to be frugal with anything.

Wasn't this all originally about escaping limits to growth?

Regards,

Mike Combs