PREVIOUSLY

• Humboldt County Supervisor Mike Wilson Seriously Pissed Off Elon Musk

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The California Coastal Commission has formally apologized to SpaceX, as part of a settlement agreement for a lawsuit involving choice comments about Elon Musk from a few commissioners, including Humboldt County Supervisor and Commissioner Mike Wilson.

The comments, made during an Oct. 10, 2024, Coastal Commission meeting, were related to a regulatory hurdle for the massive aerospace company to increase the number of launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County. The commission regulates the coastal zone of the state, including the base.

“The Commission acknowledges that these political comments were irrelevant to the Commission’s consistency review and were improper, and the Commissioners apologize for those comments,” the letter, signed by Vice Chair Caryl Hart, says.

Concerns over Musk’s business practices and political activity were voiced by commissioners who ultimately rejected SpaceX’s plans in a 6-4 vote. Court documents later note the Air Force overrode the Commission’s objection, and SpaceX’s launches were not impeded.

“This company is owned by the richest person in the world with direct control over what could be the most extensive global communication system on the planet,” Wilson said at the 2024 meeting, referring to Starlink. “And just last week, that person was speaking about political retribution on a national stage. And it was very glib and but yet he was standing next to a person [Donald Trump], a candidate that openly promotes and is working to normalize that language, right?” 

Despite the comments, Wilson actually voted in favor of SpaceX launches.

Five days later, SpaceX launched the lawsuit that named each commissioner as defendants over the comments and vote, alleging political bias.

This settlement agreement, first reported by Reuters and signed by each commissioner earlier this month, includes a written apology and a promise by the Commission to “not take into account the perceived political beliefs, political speech, or labor practices of SpaceX or its officers in considering any regulatory action concerning SpaceX.”

The Commission also agreed to no longer require SpaceX to get a Coastal Development Permit for the launch program in Federal Enclave Areas.

Meanwhile, SpaceX agreed to share monitoring data on sonic booms the Air Force collects.

The lawsuit was ordered dismissed April 17.

In a statement, California Coastal Commission spokesperson Joshua Smith said the commission still has “serious concerns about the impacts to coastal resources from increased rocket launches at the base. These impacts include restrictions on public coastal access, harm to sensitive species and coastal habitat, as well as the frequency and intensity of sonic booms.”

“Federal law requires the federal government to provide information to and coordinate with the Coastal Commission on such issues. The federal government has yet to provide sufficient information to the Coastal Commission about these activities and their impact on the California coast,” the Commission statement said.

An email to the media contact for SpaceX seeking comment went unreturned by publishing time. A text to Wilson similarly went unreturned.