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Elon Musk is suing California’s Coastal Commission (CCC), which recently voted to block more SpaceX launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County. As commissioner Gretchen Newsom (no relation to Gavin)  put it, “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,” and so forth.

“You could argue that it’s bringing in politics,” proclaimed commissioner Caryl Hart, “but this is a political matter to some extent because it involves the US government, it involves the Coastal Commission. We are dealing with a company, the head of which has aggressively injected himself into the presidential race.” Another commissioner managed to clarify what Elon Musk is dealing with.

“I’m beyond pissed,” proclaimed commissioner Susan Lowenberg. “I don’t understand why our own government is thumbing their nose at another branch of our government.” Perhaps this is because this “branch of government” was not elected by the people.

The CCC is an unelected body that overrides scores of elected city and county governments on land-use issues. As Steve once noted, the Commission combines Stalinist regulation with mafia style corruption. Back in the 1990s, commissioner Mark Nathanson, an appointee of Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, Kamala Harris’ former boyfriend, was shaking down Hollywood celebrities for bribes, and wound up serving prison time.

The unelected Commission has extended its reach into theme parks such as Sea World and surfing tournaments of the American Longboard Association. Now the Commission wants to block SpaceX launches because they don’t like Elon Musk. As they should know, everything launched from Vandenberg, like all US military gear, has components from private companies. The owners of those companies inject themselves into presidential campaigns and their workers vote. By contrast, nobody votes for the Coastal Commission, which prevents Californians from deriving the full benefit of their greatest natural resource, the Pacific Ocean.

In 2022, the CCC rejected the Poseidon desalination plant that would have provided Orange County with 50 million gallons of fresh water a day. Commissioner Dayna Bochco, explained that “the ocean is under attack from climate change already.” As Sir Bedevire (Terry Jones) might say, who is this who is so wise in the ways of science? Bochco served as president of Steven Bochco Productions, producer of shows such as “Doogie Houser MD” and “Cop Rock.” A member of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Bochco was reappointed to the CCC in 2023.

The California Coastal Commission is a partisan political body that should be shut down at first opportunity. That won’t happen under Gov. Newsom, now auditioning for the role of Al Gore.