With an estimated net worth of $195 billion, the world’s wealthiest man doesn’t worry about shaking buildings and terrified pets on the Central Coast and all the way out to Bakersfield. Not about endangered red-legged frogs, monarch butterflies, California least terns, blue whales, or threatened species including snowy plovers, western red and pallid bats, southwest pond turtles, and gray whales. And Carpinteria’s harbor seals? Not even about endangered jaguarundi, ocelots (100 wild individuals), and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles (one of the most endangered sea turtle species) in Boca Chica, Texas.
In September 2022, a test launch scorched 68 acres of land in the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge. In April 2023, SpaceX launched what was meant to be the world’s most powerful rocket. It exploded on the launch pad at Boca Chica, jettisoning flaming heavy debris into sensitive wetlands. In response, Elon Musk said: “We’ve got a lot of land with nobody around, and so if it blows up, it’s cool.”
The Department of Air Force at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) is applying to the California Coastal Commission for increased missile launches to 100 this year. If approved, that’s sonic booms every three or four days. A large percentage would be SpaceX Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy.