Exiled - The Nommuns Compendium, #1

Space... long considered the final frontier to the vast majority of people on Earth. However, for the powers that be running the United Nations, it represented something totally different-an escape. An escape from an environment ravaged by centuries of war, greed, over-population and hyper-industrialization-now having been altered into a decaying brown globe of pestilence and death. No one understood this looming threat more than Dr.
Myron Bethea, a renowned geologist working for the UN. Through his exhaustive research, Bethea discovered that our beloved home-world was on its way to becoming like the rest of its neighbors in the solar system. In essence, it was only a matter of time until the planet itself was uninhabitable. His ill-advised attempt to shed light on the severity of their situation transformed him into persona non grata with the government, condemning him to the worst penalty known to man: EXILE. Doomed to die slowly amid a plethora of society's worst in a freightage silo, Bethea and others awaken to discover that they have landed on a strange new world-offering them an uncanny reminder of what the Earth used to look like. Unfortunately for them, looks can be deceiving as their newfound freedom just may come at a price none were willing to pay.
The harsh reality being that in space... whistles don't blow.