How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from WALL-E.
Quote #10
BNL PRESIDENT [in a recording]: Operation Cleanup has, well, uh, failed. Wouldn't you know, rising toxicity levels have made life unsustainable on Earth. […] Darn it all, we're going to have to cancel Operation recolonize. So just stay the course. Rather than try and fix this problem it'll just be easier for everyone to remain in space."
Here we get the full scope of AUTO's duty. It seems that humans gave up on Earth 700 years ago, and decided that they should just stay in space instead of trying to fix things.