I... disagree with him then (And believe it or not I actually
like Lindelof!). I think if audiences see a sci-fi setting with spaceships and everything then they always assume it's set in our future. I guarantee most casuals all assume Star Wars is set in our future, despite the "A long time ago.." tagline.
I also think there are subtler ways of showing this is set in our future than just anchoring Trek to Earth. Can't we just have characters... reference Earth? Quote Shakespeare or whatever? It just seems pretty pointless to me.