Because Donald Trump could conceivably just turn off the ones we have
(Gizmodo) With his latest cabinet picks, Donald Trump has strongly signaled that his administration will do little to combat climate change, which he once called a hoax invented by the Chinese. If the President-elect tries to stop climate research, however, California’s Governor has promised to fight him at every turn.
In a barnburner speech on Wednesday, Governor Jerry Brown vowed to defy any attempt by the future President to “mess with†the state’s earth science programs, telling a group of geophysicists in San Francisco, “We will persevere.â€
“We’ve got the scientists, we’ve got the lawyers and we’re ready to fight,†Brown told the American Geophysical Union to wild applause. “If Trump turns off the satellites, California will launch its own damn satellite.â€
Remember, these are scientists who are supposedly scientists, not activists, not political. Yet, they cheered wildly for a very partisan governor giving a speech, which also included a shot at Rick Perry, who has been nominated to head the Department of Energy
“Rick, I got some news for you,†said Brown. “California is growing a hell of a lot faster than Texas. And we’ve got more sun than you have oil.â€
Bringing in tons of illegal aliens to offset all the jobs lost to Texas isn’t quite the growth they need. Interestingly, it is a whole lot easier for companies and citizens in Texas to put up solar panels and solar farm than in California, due to the massive discrepancy between the regulatory systems in the two states.
Imagine. Scientists are threatening to collect scientific data. What is the world coming to!?
There’s a reason why Brown is referred to as Governor Moonbeam.
That’s what they should be doing instead of being activists and community organizers. They should be defunded.
Ocean
Atmosphere
Space
Ice
Not sure what you think scientists do, but scientists are in the business of collecting and analyzing scientific data.
Moderation queue please.
We should thank the people of California for providing a target rich environment for testing anti satellite defense systems.
Not sure satellites are launched by States…but you go little buddy, keep eating those crayons, you window licker.
Nothing in it.
Was in the spam que. Too many links causes autowacking. If this ever happens, email me at the [email protected] address. I’ll see it quicker that the @piratescove.us address
As I recall, the state of California has been spending more money than they bring in for a long time, in other words, they are broke.
I don’t have the exact numbers, but to launch a payload into earth orbit costs something north of $50K per pound.
Where, exactly, is California going to find the funds to do this?
California has a $2.5 trillion economy, about the same as France. If the payload is say 2 tons, and if the price is $50k per pound, that would be $100 million, or 0.004% of California’s economy. By the way, California’s GDP is growing at twice the national rate.
Sorry Zachriel, but you are forgetting the elephant in the room – the unfunded pensions for the public sector in CA.
Judges all the way up to the CA Supreme Court have ruled they cannot get out of those obligations and can’t even reduce them for future hirings.
The GDP growth doesn’t even begin to cover the pension obligations.
Secondly, you may also not realize that the airspace above CA does not belong to CA – it is controlled by the Federal government. We can argue whether that should be the case, but the fact of the matter is that Brown and CA would have to get permission to launch anything. Furthermore, the liability of such a launch would be huge from other states.
The shortfall is well within the means of California. In any case, that wouldn’t matter to an expenditure of 0.004% of California’s economy.
Huh? Corporations and institutions launch rockets all the time. There’s no particular reason why it would be beyond the richest state in the U.S. to meet those same requirements.
Oh?
Is that why the State tried to persuade a judge to declare the pension system bankrupt and release the obligations? Furthermore, the obligation has been building for years at a faster rate than the GDP of California. Any gains are automatically wiped out. Finally, the GDP of California is roughly $2.6 trillion dollars.
The pension obligation is estimated at $1 trillion.
Actually, it would.
No, they do not.
There is a difference between paying for the rockets and launching them.
Over what period?
You’re dating yourself. There are now a variety of commercial launch facilities around the world.
They even have a spaceport in California, California Spaceport®, a 100% commercially run Satellite Processing facility and Space Launch facility.
From whom will CA and Brown be forced to obtain permission? Trumpski? You’re not suggesting that Trumpski would interfere for political reasons are you?
You really don’t understand this do you?
The obligation doesn’t go down or go away because people retire all the time.
As I said, CA has gone to court several times to discharge this obligation and have been rebuffed by the courts.
Once again, your ignorance is showing.
The Federal government under the law.
Who’s that?
It is funny that you are talking about some unknown person shooting down a project for political reasons when the project itself is politically motivated.
The period of analysis is by general convention a 75-year horizon.
“Is not! Is not!” is rarely convincing. California Spaceport®, a 100% commercially run Satellite Processing facility and Space Launch facility.
There’s no reason whatsoever to prevent a state-funded launch of a satellite used for gathering climate data as long as safety and environmental requirements are met.
Once again, you really don’t understand this issue.
The actuary tables are showing the obligation increasing, not decreasing. The obligation is tied to the CA GDP and so when you say “the GDP can handle this,” the fact is the GDP increases the obligation. You act as if the issue isn’t a big deal but the CONTINUING obligation is almost half of the GDP and 6 times the current State budget.
I know. Yet you constantly raise that very point.
So you think the State of California is a commercial interest?
That’s okay, because once again you are only showing your ignorance on the issue.
Well, isn’t this an interesting argument from the AGW cult?
Wouldn’t the real argument be that the reason to launch a satellite would be because the data is not available or untrustworthy? In arguing for a launch of a cultish satellite, you are saying the date provided by the NASA and NOAA (which are Federally mandated to collect the data) could be false.
Furthermore, the satellite would be, as I am sure you know, redundant without a benefit. That is one of the criteria for a launch into space from the US.
Now you can argue that CA could take their science project to another country and you’d be right. (Maybe. I’d have to check into that.)
Nothing like watching CA say “we are going to send money and jobs oeverseas with no benefit to Californians!”
Brown’s boast is a political ploy. Nothing more, Nothing less.
NASA and the FAA can and should shut down that project and deny any launch.
You had suggested there was no projection horizon, which was not correct. You may want to provide citations to support your claims.
California Spaceport® is a 100% commercially run Satellite Processing facility and Space Launch facility, and has been licensed as a commercial launch site operator since 1996.
Scientists always want more data. How did you think it worked?
Why would it be redundant? Scientific research satellites are always improving, such as by studying new areas of the globe or spectrum, with improved accuracy, and sometimes are necessary to replace existing satellites that have outlived their usefulness. It’s like your saying that because we have Hubble, we can’t learn anything new from the James Webb Space Telescope or the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
As they have their own commercial launch facility, they would presumably use that, though they could always look for a low-cost provider elsewhere.
Why would they deny the launch of a scientific satellite? That’s absurd.