Bill Gates Would Rather Save Earth and Back Vaccines Than Flee to Mars

Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, explained how he's simply not a "Mars person," and that he would rather spend money on measles vaccines and tackling climate change, than launching off to relocate on Mars. 

Gates' views were aired on Monday in the New York Times' "Sway" podcast, in which he explained his stance on Earth-related focuses. 

Gates is not a "Mars person," but he is a climate change and health crisis one

"No, I’m not a Mars person," Gates said on Sway. "I know a lot of Mars people. But, you know, I’m not subject to that."

It wasn't all doom and gloom from Gates. He praised the likes of Elon Musk and all he's contributed when it comes to electric vehicles, calling Tesla's CEO's creation "one of the greatest contributions to climate change anyone’s ever made." And that "Underestimating Elon is not a good idea."

That said, Gates also pointed out that working on electric vehicles was the easy part, with larger industries needing major clean-ups in terms of sustainability. 

"We’re basically not doing enough on the hard stuff: steel, cement, meat," Gates explained. "And sadly, the things people think about — the electricity, passenger cars — are a third of the problem. So we have to work on the two-thirds."

So instead of funding space missions to the Red Planet, Gates prefers to spend parts of his fortune on Earth-related measures such as measles vaccines, and other health issues, as well as the climate crisis.

It's clear to see Gates' involvement in what he cares about. For instance, his nuclear power venture unveiled last year hopes to fight climate change, and his clear warnings of how climate change's death toll will ultimately be much higher than the COVID-19 pandemic's, are just some of his points.

Gates is known for being a practical man, with an astute sense of how things will pan out. Typically, when he foresees something, it happens. So when Gates shares his predictions on the next major threats humanity will face like he did last week, perhaps we should take a page out of his book.