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| Government Corruption | |
| SpaceX Sues California Coastal Commission Over ‘Political Bias', Seeks to Bar Environmental Regulations | |
| 2024-10-17 | |
| [ToSD] SpaceX has sued a California commission in federal court, accusing panel members of political bias for blocking the company from increasing the number of rockets it launches from an air base in the state. The space venture company, which is owned by billionaire Elon Musk, sued the California Coastal Commission on Tuesday in Los Angeles. It is seeking an order that would bar the agency from regulating the company’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket launch program at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara. One commissioner on the twelve-member coastal panel had said that Musk, who has increasingly injected far-right conspiracy theories into the U.S. presidential race, of "spewing and tweeting political falsehoods." Musk, whose politics have taken a sharp right turn, has endorsed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and become a mega donor, campaigning for the former president and saying he would accept a role in Trump’s administration if he wins. The lawsuit claims that the commission, which oversees the use of land and water within the state’s more than a thousand miles of coastline, unfairly asserted regulatory powers over the company’s launches based on a disapproval of Musk’s political views. Musk’s lawsuit called any consideration of his public statements improper, violating speech rights protected by the U.S. Constitution. The agency, at its Oct. 10 meeting, had said commercial space launches are not federal government activity and must submit to the commission’s coastal development permitting authority. The commission, SpaceX, and its lawyers at the law firm Venable did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday morning. The lawsuit also accused the commission of "unconstitutional overreach," intruding on the national security of the United States and other federal interests, and said launches at the base have had "no significant effects on coastal resources." "Rarely has a government agency made so clear that it was exceeding its authorized mandate to punish a company for the political views and statements of its largest shareholder and CEO," it said. SpaceX has launched Falcon 9 rockets from the central California air base since 2013. The Air Force has proposed increasing the number of SpaceX launches from 36 to 50
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| Posted by:Frank G |
| #1 {AoS]You Mustn't Disagree |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2024-10-17 09:04 |