A new column published Friday on Breitbart takes aim at what it describes as a growing effort on the political left to prevent the United States from claiming territory and resources on the moon. The piece, written by recurring Breitbart contributor James Pinkerton, argues that legal and environmental obstacles could delay or derail American ambitions in space just as NASA’s Artemis program prepares to return astronauts to the lunar surface.
Pinkerton’s central claim is that a coalition of international lawyers, environmental advocates, and left-leaning policymakers is working to ensure that no nation—and by extension no private company—can assert sovereignty over lunar territory. He points to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which the United States signed and which explicitly bars national appropriation of celestial bodies “by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.” In Pinkerton’s telling, that decades-old agreement is now being weaponized by critics who want to keep the moon off-limits to American enterprise.
A New Space Race With Old Rules
The column comes as the United States accelerates its lunar plans. NASA’s Artemis program aims to land astronauts near the moon’s south pole, where water ice could support long-term habitation and fuel production. The agency has also promoted the Artemis Accords, a set of bilateral agreements designed to establish norms for responsible lunar exploration. While the Accords do not grant sovereignty, they allow signatories to create “safety zones” around their operations—a provision that critics argue is a backdoor to territorial claims.
Pinkerton suggests that this ambiguity is exactly where the fight is headed. He contends that left-wing legal scholars and activist groups are preparing challenges to any U.S. attempt to recognize property rights on the moon, whether through executive action, legislation, or international pressure. The column frames the issue as a test of whether America can maintain its technological lead in space or whether it will be constrained by what he characterizes as a globalist legal regime.
The Breitbart piece does not offer specific new reporting on pending lawsuits or legislation. Instead, it synthesizes long-running debates over space law and extrapolates from recent political trends. Pinkerton cites past opposition to commercial space development, including environmental reviews of rocket launches and concerns about space debris, as evidence that the left will use any available tool to slow American lunar ambitions.
The Stakes for American Industry
At the heart of the dispute is whether the moon’s resources—rare earth minerals, helium-3, and water ice—can be legally extracted and sold. The 2015 U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act explicitly grants American companies the right to own resources they extract from asteroids and the moon, a law that many international legal experts say conflicts with the Outer Space Treaty’s non-appropriation principle. That tension has never been tested in court.
Pinkerton warns that if the left succeeds in blocking American claims, the vacuum will be filled by rival space powers, particularly China. Beijing has announced plans for a lunar research station and has made no secret of its interest in resource extraction. The column argues that a hesitantly enforced American presence would cede strategic advantage to a country that does not share Western legal scruples.
Congress has shown some appetite for clarifying the rules. Bipartisan bills have been introduced in recent sessions to streamline licensing for lunar mining and to affirm U.S. property rights, but none have become law. The Biden administration has taken a more multilateral approach, emphasizing the Artemis Accords and cooperation with allies. That strategy, Pinkerton suggests, leaves the United States vulnerable to being outmaneuvered by countries that ignore international norms.
Left’s Counterargument: No One Owns the Moon
Critics of the American claim-first approach argue that unilateral resource extraction would set off a chaotic scramble for lunar territory, undermining decades of stable space governance. They note that the Outer Space Treaty has prevented armed conflict in orbit and on celestial bodies for more than half a century, and they warn that abandoning its principles could lead to militarization of the moon.
Environmental groups have also raised concerns about the moon’s fragile surface, particularly the permanently shadowed craters at the south pole that contain ancient ice. They argue that mining could destroy scientific records of the early solar system. While these groups have not yet filed lawsuits specifically targeting lunar mining, they have successfully used environmental review processes to delay terrestrial spaceport construction and launch permits.
Pinkerton’s column does not quote any left-wing activists or legal scholars directly, nor does it cite specific new campaigns. Instead, it presents a hypothetical: if the left decides to make lunar property rights a political battleground, it has ample legal tools to do so. The piece urges conservatives to anticipate those challenges and to push for a legal framework that secures American claims before they are contested.
The underlying question—can the left stop America from owning the moon?—remains unresolved. What is clear is that the next few years of lunar exploration will be accompanied by a parallel legal and political struggle over who gets to decide what happens on the surface. For now, the moon belongs to no one, and that is precisely what Pinkerton finds unacceptable.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/09/19/pinkerton-can-the-left-stop-america-from-owning-the-moon/