On the other hand it's quite likely that the technology required to build satellites that can observe Earth is remarkably similar to the technology required to build satellites to observe other planets. There's a huge amount of overlap; why wouldn't you want them to do it on Earth first? It'd be cheaper and faster, for a start, along with providing useful information. What's the downside?
The downside is that the shitload of evidence showing climate change is real would grow. That is a downside to Cruz and his minions.
Thus spake the master programmer: "After three days without programming, life becomes meaningless." -- Geoffrey James, "The Tao of Programming"