So Bajor made one of it's moons uninhabitable for some energy

[Timo]

But since nobody but Mullibok made any use of that moon anyway, why not wreck it? Habitable worlds are a dime in a dozen in the immediate vicinity of DS9 (say, "Sanctuary"), yet Bajorans aren't interested in those, either. Heck, they don't even bother to inhabit all parts of their own planet yet (again, "Sanctuary").

Wrecking Jerrado still leaves four other moons as natural preserves or amusement parks or inspiration for space poets or whatnot. Or perhaps Bajor will eventually have the time and resources to remove vegetation and animal life from those, too, for the sake of preservation, as lifelessness no doubt is the most natural state of those moons!

Timo Saloniemi

 

[MacLeod]

With industrial replicators it might be simply a case of at that point the Federation only had a few they could spare. Look at modern disaster relief efforts, we have resources we can dispatch and put it in at a moments notice, but it can still take time to put in all the resources a particualr disaster needs. It might be the case with these industrial replicators as well. They have x spare and who knows perhaps some of those spare were needed elsewhere.

 

[Timo]

It might also be that the technology is so strategically important that only a select few allies ever receive it, and only when sufficient supervision (or sheer operating expertise) can be provided as well. Not because it'd be scarce, but because it cannot be allowed to leak to the enemy (such as in "For the Cause").

We know the Maquis have food replicators aplenty; they are mentioned in "Preemptive Strike". They also have engineers of high quality, and even Klingon Imperial Intelligence agents can tune up a food replicator... Yet they cannot replicate torpedo warheads (or the Cardassian framing attempt of "Tribunal" wouldn't have made sense) let alone complete armed fightercraft (a plot point in "The Maquis"). So industrial replicators apparently represent a major leap in capabilities, not merely in terms of quantity but of quality as well.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[The Emissary]

But since nobody but Mullibok made any use of that moon anyway, why not wreck it? Habitable worlds are a dime in a dozen in the immediate vicinity of DS9 (say, "Sanctuary"), yet Bajorans aren't interested in those, either. Heck, they don't even bother to inhabit all parts of their own planet yet (again, "Sanctuary").

Wrecking Jerrado still leaves four other moons as natural preserves or amusement parks or inspiration for space poets or whatnot. Or perhaps Bajor will eventually have the time and resources to remove vegetation and animal life from those, too, for the sake of preservation, as lifelessness no doubt is the most natural state of those moons!

Timo Saloniemi

Perhaps. Just seems odd and pointless to wreck an entire thriving moon for that reason. But I guess I am looking at it from the 21st century POV where we barely have the power to preserve this planet. So seeing them wreck a planet-like moon like that is cringe-worthy. :P Especially when it appears that the UFP has superior methods to get them out of that problem.

With industrial replicators it might be simply a case of at that point the Federation only had a few they could spare. Look at modern disaster relief efforts, we have resources we can dispatch and put it in at a moments notice, but it can still take time to put in all the resources a particualr disaster needs. It might be the case with these industrial replicators as well. They have x spare and who knows perhaps some of those spare were needed elsewhere.

It might also be that the technology is so strategically important that only a select few allies ever receive it, and only when sufficient supervision (or sheer operating expertise) can be provided as well. Not because it'd be scarce, but because it cannot be allowed to leak to the enemy (such as in "For the Cause").

We know the Maquis have food replicators aplenty; they are mentioned in "Preemptive Strike". They also have engineers of high quality, and even Klingon Imperial Intelligence agents can tune up a food replicator... Yet they cannot replicate torpedo warheads (or the Cardassian framing attempt of "Tribunal" wouldn't have made sense) let alone complete armed fightercraft (a plot point in "The Maquis"). So industrial replicators apparently represent a major leap in capabilities, not merely in terms of quantity but of quality as well.

Timo Saloniemi

Both are fair points.

 

[wingsabre]

I don't think industrial replicators will solve the fundamental problem presented in the episode, which is power. Those thousands of Bajorians needed power to survive the winter. Replicators won't really do much if there's no way of powering them. With that said, I think the Federation gives out food replicators often for humanitarian needs. However they limit industrial replicators because you could replicate explosives and weapons with them.

With that said, I still stick by the opinion that the moon's atmosphere is not polluted beyond habitability with the drilling process. The area chosen to drill was probably the most accessible, and easy to obtain geothermal power from. From the description of what would happen, it sounds like it's going to be similar to a volcano eruption. You don't want to be near by, but it's likely not going to destroy the entire moon's habitat.