Re: [Starlink] Planetary Society podcast on SpaceX & EPA issues

[Darrell Budic <budic@onholyground.com>]

The TLDR; is probably:

- site originally used a sort of short form Environmental Impact Statement to certify for occasional falcon 9 launches, not exploding starship testing
- updates have been made to allow for the testing, and this is where the recent lawsuits are centered
- crazy things have been floated for the site (LNG shipping terminal, 250MW power plant) that would have required new evals
- lots of this is probably traceable to Musk’s lack of local PR and just trying to crash forward and the recent train derailments in the news raising awareness
- SpaceX seems to be realizing this site may not be what they need and may to be looking at doing more at Kennedy Space Center in the future
- if the lawsuit against the EPA stays in Washington DC, it may be trouble for SpaceX, if it moves to Texas at the EPAs request, it’s more likely to mean little overall

But you miss a lot of somewhat interesting policy and background on the Environmental angle, which turns out to be more involved than I’d have thought from a distance. 

Also nice that the Planetary Society posts a full transcript if you’d rather read/skim than listen.

> On May 12, 2023, at 4:53 PM, Dave Taht <dave.taht@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> could you summarize?
> 
> On Fri, May 12, 2023 at 8:48 AM Darrell Budic via Starlink
> <starlink@lists.bufferbloat.net> wrote:
>> 
>> Some intersting coverage on the route SpaceX took with their Boca Chica site and environmental issues here:
>> 
>> https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/space-policy-edition-spacexs-starship-vs-the-environment-with-eric-roesch
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> 
> 
> -- 
> Podcast: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7058793910227111937/
> Dave Täht CSO, LibreQos