California Bureaucrat Says the Quiet Part Out Loud

The California Coastal Commission on Thursday rejected the Air Force’s plan to give SpaceX permission to launch up to 50 rockets a year from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County.

“Elon Musk is hopping about the country, spewing and tweeting political falsehoods and attacking FEMA while claiming his desire to help the hurricane victims with free Starlink access to the internet,” Commissioner Gretchen Newsom said at the meeting in San Diego.

The agency’s commissioners, appointed by the governor and legislative leaders, voted 6-4 to reject the Air Force’s plan over concerns that all SpaceX launches would be considered military activity, shielding the company from having to acquire its own permits, even if military payloads aren’t being carried.

This is from Alex Nieves, “California officials cite Elon Musk’s politics in rejecting SpaceX launches,” Politico, October 10, 2024.

I think the public choice model of the behavior of government officials gives insights. One insight is that the officials will follow their own interests and that these are often unrelated to the more general interests of the population. Politicians, anticipating this criticism, not mainly from economists but mainly from everyday citizens, often try to dress up their actions in the language of public interest or common good.

But every once in a while, the mask slips. Gretchen Newsom just let the mask slip. Notice her statement, which is her list of her grievances against Elon Musk. Ask yourself if there’s any connection between those three grievances and whether it would be a good idea to let Musk launch rockets from Vandenberg.

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