Unlike Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Bill Gates is not so interested in attracting people into space.
“Well, it’s important to say that what Elon has done with Tesla is one of the greatest contributions to climate change that anyone has ever made. And you know, underestimating Elon is not a good idea,” he said. Gates for Kara Swisher on her “Sway” podcast. But he added that “there is no man on Mars” and that he does not “believe that rockets are the solution.”
The co-founder of Microsoft, which is currently worth more than $ 130 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, has a new book, “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster,” and said in an interview that we need to focus on bigger issues. climate change here on earth.
He said companies like Tesla do a great job of “light things like cars,” but that we need to approach other industries to make climate change bigger.
“We’re basically not doing enough for the hard stuff: steel, cement, meat,” he said. “And unfortunately, the things that people think about – electricity, cars – are a third of the problem. So we have to work on the two thirds. And if all you pay attention to is those short-term values, not green premiums. everywhere, then you lose what is the longest lead time, which is the hard thing. “
Gates said he would rather spend money on measles vaccines than travel in space on a rocket. “I’m not going to pay a lot of money because my foundation can buy measles vaccines and save a life of $ 1,000. So whatever I do, I always think, OK, I could spend $ 1,000 buying the measles vaccine.”