California vs. the Space Force
“SpaceX’s plans to launch more rockets from the California coast were rejected by a state commission this week,” the Los Angeles Times reports, “with some officials citing Elon Musk’s political posts on X and raising concerns about the billionaire’s labor record at his companies.” The California Coastal Commission (CCC) rejected the SpaceX plan “despite assurances from Space Force and Air Force officials that they would increase efforts to monitor the effects that rocket launches have on nearby wildlife.”
In August, the commission asked Space Force to monitor more closely how sonic booms affect southern sea otters, California red-legged frogs, the western snowy plover and the California least tern. “I’m beyond pissed,” proclaimed commissioner Susan Lowenberg. “I don’t understand why our own government is thumbing their nose at another branch of our government.” Perhaps this is because this “branch of government” was not elected by the people.
Lowenberg is a 2023 appointee of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and all commissioners are appointed by the governor, the Senate Rules Committee, and the Assembly Speaker. In the Space Force matter, the Lowenberg Corporation president enjoys the support of fellow commissioners.
“We don’t want to stop the rockets, we don’t want to stop their satellites, and we certainly don’t want to enable any kind of defense problem,” proclaimed commissioner Dayna Bochco. “But this is ridiculous.” Bochco, an attorney, is the wife of the late television producer Steven Bochco, and served as president of Steven Bochco Productions, producer of shows such as Doogie Houser MD and Cop Rock. A member of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Bochco was reappointed to the CCC in 2023.
Vandenberg Space Force Base in California’s Santa Barbara County plans to increase launches from six to 36 per year. Commissioner Kristina Kunkel worried that the CCC could be “bullied into ignoring environmental protections.” By October, it was apparent that the real problem was SpaceX and its founder Elon Musk.
“This company is owned by the richest person in the world with direct control of what could be the most expansive communications system in the planet,” proclaimed Mike Wilson, another appointee of Gov. Newsom. “Just last week that person was talking about political retribution,” and there was more to it.
“Elon Musk is hopping about the country, spewing and tweeting political falsehoods,” claimed Commissioner Gretchen Newsom, political director for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and not related to Gov. Newsom. The commissioner didn’t break down the “political falsehoods” Musk was allegedly spewing, but commission chair Caryl Hart thought she knew what the deal was.
“We’re dealing with a company, the head of which has aggressively injected himself into the presidential race,” proclaimed Hart, an attorney and author of a dissertation on “California State Parks and Climate Change.” Hart is concerned that the launches benefit Musk’s Starlink company, so it was “essential that SpaceX apply” for a coastal development permit issued by the Commission.
In reality, every launch from Vandenberg, like every aspect of the U.S. military, involves components built by private companies. Like all citizens, company leaders are free to inject themselves into presidential races and their workers vote in federal and state elections. None of the commissioners is subject to a vote of the people, but the CCC is the most powerful land-use body in the nation.
It all began with Proposition 20, a 1972 ballot initiative that created a temporary commission aimed at preventing environmental disasters. The California Coastal Act of 1976, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, made the commission permanent.
A bastion of regulatory zealots, the commission has run roughshod over property rights, and ramped up corruption in the Golden State. In 1993, commissioner Mark Nathanson, appointed by Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, was sentenced to prison for shaking down Hollywood celebrities for bribes. By blocking development, the CCC has made coastal residency practically impossible for working people.
The unelected CCC has extended its regulatory reach into theme parks such as Sea World and bullied the American Longboard Association into accepting trans surfer Sara Jane Lowerson in a tournament for women. The commission also prevents Californians from deriving maximum benefit from their greatest natural resource, the Pacific Ocean.
In 2022, the commission rejected a desalination plant that would have provided Orange County with 50 million gallons of fresh water a day. Commissioner Dayna Bochco, an English and drama major in college, explained that “the ocean is under attack from climate change already.”
The CCC now rejects the Space Force plan to launch more rockets from Vandenberg because some commissioners don’t like Elon Musk, who also builds electric cars. This exposes the CCC as a partisan political body with no purpose beyond preserving its own power, with no accountability to the people.
The scores of city and county governments on California’s coast are perfectly capable of handling land-use and environmental issues. If politicians of any party want to protect the rights of the people and enhance their quality of life, they should eliminate the California Coastal Commission at first opportunity.
Lloyd Billingsley is a policy fellow at the Independent Institute in Oakland, Calif.
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