We wrote earlier this week that President Trump issued an executive order establishing a policy that calls for the U.S. to mine and exploit the other resources like water on the moon.  As Axios explained, the order “directs the State Department to find international partners that are interested in collaborating with the U.S. on creating ‘sustainable operations’ related to commercial use of space-based resources.”

A nation that won’t be a partner in this new scheme? Russia.

Russia’s space agency Roscosmos has condemned the order this week, likened it to colonialism and said in a statement that “There have already been examples in history when one country decided to start seizing territories in its interest — everyone remembers what came of it.”

Moreover, Russia seems to be paying little attention to Trump’s wants. After he urged Russia and Saudi Arabia to drastically cut their oil production last week in an effort to stabilize oil markets, the nations only agreed to a tentative deal to moderately limit production.

Why This Matters: Meanwhile as oil companies are collapsing and solar energy keeps growing, Trump has made no indication he’ll help the renewable energy industry during the coronavirus recovery. We need our President to focus less on the moon and more on what’s happening on Earth (like pandemics and climate change).

Cartoon by Alex Bowman