The "Crawlers" or elevator cars would have the capability to micro examine and do repairs to the cables. The cable itself might act as an electrostatic inducer and supply some or all the current necessary to operate the powerful engines required to move massive loads up and down or, more correctly, in and out of Earth's gravity well. An absolute "no-fly" zone of a thousand miles radius might be established to repel crazies from assaulting the machine. Similar restrictions on all water borne vessels. Space junk and meteoroids would be an ever constant source of danger as the cables are completely immovable but here, stand-off sheilding could be employed and maintained as are low-orbit satellites. Vessels docking and undocking with the counter weight ( a small metalic asteroid perhaps ) would also present engineering problems and, potentially, a great hazzard, should an accident occur. The escapablility of the crawlers, especially smaller ones for living passngers only, is easily handled. Cargo only crawlers would need the 1000 mile buffer zone to avoid immediate damage to Earth, other than the anchor points. Twenty thousand and some odd miles of sharp and ridgid nano-carbon cables would present an enormous hazzard to Earth dwellers. It would fall at super-sonic speeds and slice through most materials it encountered.

If we Earthlings had the ability to do this project it should first be attempted on the Moon where unforseen problems would not endanger Earth's inhabitants. The prototype would be beneficial to Lunar enterprizes in much the same way a space elevator would directly benefit Earth. Regardless we need an established permanent presence in the Earth Moon system to even begin and maintain the industries needed to accomplish such a grand endeavor.