I'm surprised by how many downvotes this post is getting, although I suppose that there's a certain element of politics here.
I upvoted it because, while of limited use in preventing AI-related dangers, an interplanetary civilization is extremely helpful in shrinking the total number of events that qualify as existential risks (asteroid impacts, grey goo scenarios, etc.). A political demonstration of enthusiasm for space exploration seems like a reasonable and good step to take.
I'm surprised by how many downvotes this post is getting
I downvoted this. It's a feel-good marketing exercise with zero consequences, as far as I can see. In the best case your email will be read by a bored intern who'll forget it five seconds later.
"The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is planning ahead — way ahead. The agency wants you to email ideas for how "the Administration, the private sector, philanthropists, the research community and storytellers" can develop "massless" space exploration and a robust civilization beyond Earth."
This is beautiful.
"We are running out of adventures [...] the mountains have all been climbed, the continents explored, and the romance of sailing away on a tall ship to undiscovered islands is no more. What will fire the imaginations of the next generation?"
http://io9.com/white-house-seeks-advice-on-bootstrapping-a-solar-syst-1647619795