Bezos: Trip to space ‘reinforces my commitment to climate change’

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on Tuesday said his space flight has reinforced his commitment to addressing climate change and environmental issues.

In an interview with MSNBC News, Bezos told host Stephanie Ruhle that his Blue Origin space launch on Tuesday was significant for building a path for future generations in space travel. He also said it was a reminder of the fragility of the planet Earth.

“We have to build a road to space so that our kids and their kids can build the future … when you get up and there you see it, you see how tiny it is and how fragile it is, we need to take all heavy industry, all polluting industry and move it into space, and keep Earth as this beautiful gem of a planet that it is,” Bezos told Ruhle.

“That’s going to take decades and decades but you have to start,” he added.

“So for me it reinforces my commitment to the climate change, to the environment, I think if you look at it to about, we have too much vilification in society today … not enough unity,” Bezos said. “So we want unifiers, not vilifiers and when you look out at the planet, there are no borders … there’s nothing, it’s one planet and we share it, and it’s fragile.”  

Bezos, along with his brother Mark Bezos; 82-year-old Mary Wallace “Wally” Funk, who completed astronaut training as a member of the pioneering “Mercury 13” woman in space program; and 18-year-old Netherlands college student Oliver Daemen took part in Blue Origin’s first launch into space in Texas on Tuesday.

The group launched into space for about 10 minutes before successfully returning to earth. 

Blue Origin’s launch follows Virgin Atlantic’s space launch on July 11 as Richard Branson beat out Bezos to become the first billionaire to successfully launch into space.