Do You Believe Environmentalists Or The CEO Looking To Make Millions?

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On September 24, Bruce Gagnon and I gave a talk at Maine's big Common Ground Fair on the proposal to build a rocket launch site off the coast of Maine at Steuben. Bruce coordinates an international organization paying attention to the militarization of space for the last several decades, the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space,  and understands the context for the proposal to build a rocket launch site near Acadia National Park.

Although our 9am talk was sparsely attended we got none other than Sascha Deri himself, CEO of bluShift Aerospace, who interrupted me to claim that I was sharing false information. Having taught high school for years, I did not allow Deri to derail my presentation; but he and others in the audience participated in a lively Q & A session after my remarks. (Video of the entire presentation including the disruption is being processed and will be available later this week.)

Deri's most amazing revelation in response to Gagnon's question about his funding sources: bluShift Aerospace has taken money from the U.S. Space Force! Remember that the next time you see or hear claims that a rocket launch site in Maine would only be used for research and educational purposes, not for military payloads.

Banner by Cynthia Howard

We hung our banners on the outside of the Social & Political Action tents at the invitation of a fair official, and then did some more outreach work with organizations like Dark Sky, WERU, and Community Water Justice.

Original banner design by Elizabeth Olbert

The following day Donovan Lynch of NewsCenterMaine called me for an interview about opposition to the plan to launch 30+ rockets each summer off the coast of Steuben, rockets that are as tall as a mature White Pine. He also interviewed Deri and Steuben-based seaweed harvester Larch Hanson about environmental concerns: "Downeast rocket launch site promises industry boom, worrying environmentalists."

Screenshot showing Kenny Cole's climate collapse-themed print "Last Run" in the background

Included in his report was the news that bluShift is seeking FAA approval, and a prediction that two years from now rocket launches might commence.

Who are you inclined to believe about probable environmental harms of the launch site project: the CEO looking to make millions, environmentalists who live in Maine, or Gagnon with extensive knowledge of the effects of rocket launch sites all over the planet? 

You can read Bruce Gagnon's blog post about our talk at the fair here.

For more information and to sign up for updates, visit our website NoToxicRockets4ME.org.

*To order one of the cool "Don't take the peace out of space" hoodies we're wearing in the photo at the top, visit: Global Network's store at Bonfire.com. Kudos to the British GN team for this awesome design!

Elephant In The Climate Room: Rocket Launches

As many readers of this blog know, I've spent years collecting research and reporting on the climate harms of militarism. When I began this was an obscure perspective shared by few; it is now mainstream in climate movements (as long as they are not controlled by the Democratic Party, that is).

Sept. 17, 2023, New York City. WW PHOTO: Monica Moorehead 
Source: Workers World "Mass march targets Biden for an 'End to fossil fuels'"  

So it is gratifying to see this fact of modern life represented at last weekend's big climate march in New York City.

Sept. 17, 2023, New York City. WW PHOTO: Monica Moorehead 
Source: Workers World 

Other points of view also trend in that direction.

Sept. 17, 2023, New York City. WW PHOTO: Marsha Goldberg
Source: Workers World

If capitalism is the root cause of rapidly warming oceans and extreme weather events, then the wars that are necessary to sustain capitalism are implicated.

But what about war in space, which is already well underway even if few realize it? The proliferation of rocket launches in recent years and the accompanying environmental damage are almost never mentioned in reporting on either space topics or military topics.

This coming weekend I'll attend Maine's biggest annual green lifestyle event, the Common Ground Fair. It draws thousands from all over the region for a "celebration of country living" sponsored by the Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association.

On Sunday morning in the political and social action tent a group of us will update fairgoers on plans to build a rocket launch site on the coast of Maine. Steuben is within sight of Acadia National Park, and the floating launch pad proposed would sit amid lobster fishing and seaweed harvesting activities already generating jobs and providing sustenance for the last several decades.

The town of Steuben is outlined in red. The proposed launch site would float just off the coast.

The plan is for up to 30 launches each year between Memorial Day and Labor Day of rockets roughly the height of a mature White Pine. 

Noise from tests of the proposed engine developed by blueShift Aerospace in Brunswick is so loud that parents report their child woke up frightened and crying after hearing it in his sleep. Toxic fallout from rocket launches reaches as high as the stratosphere, where soot particles linger and damage ozone. Toxic fallout from rocket launches in other states has polluted wetlands, breeding grounds, and beaches. And when rocket launches fail -- as they often do -- forests burn and areas several miles wide are littered with debris like concrete.

All rocket site construction involves toxic substances, including the PFAS foam used for fire fighting and stored in vast quantities on site until it may be needed. And when rockets and satellites fall from the sky, they disintegrate into a chemical soup that then falls to Earth. Mass deaths of birds and other animals have been observed at rocket launch sites in other states.

Maine was once considered Vacationland because of its deep forests, clean water, beautiful shoreline, and abundance of foods like lobsters, trout, and clams.

Although organized lobster fishermen in Jonesport blocked the construction of the toxic launch site in their fishing grounds, Steuben has not been so lucky. Resident Larch Hanson is ready to sue blueShift's CEO for trampling on the democratic process and putting his seaweed harvesting business at risk. The town government of Steuben has squelched discussion of the rocket launch site plan and silenced critics, according to Hanson.

It's worth noting that a bill rushed through supposedly as "emergency" legislation and passed under the gavel (i.e. without a roll call vote) established a private-public partnership called the Maine Space Corporation to support just this kind of project. So undemocratic methods are a signature of bringing rocket launches to Vacationland.

SOURCE: The Independent "Fire at SpaceX launch site burns 68 acres at protected refuge, killing wildlife"

But isn't space cool? you may ask. And educational?

All space programs are inherently military in nature, no matter what NASA or the University of Maine tell you. Every rocket launch site built on other pristine coasts such as Kodiak, Alaska or Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand was sold to local residents as non-military but once built has been used extensively and repeatedly to launch military satellites. (More details on that here.)

As a retired educator, I know STEM fans will enthuse about how much science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education will be advanced by projects such as this one. STEM educators in Australia are currently excited about how middle school students will be involved in projects connected to nuclear submarines the U.S. is forcing on them despite considerable pushback from the public. 

STEM can be a force for good, but not when it's used as a cover up for militarizing education and other public resources.

I have been astonished at the lack of interest among environmentalists who I might have expected would oppose building a rocket launch site on the Maine coast. No doubt it's partly attributable to the slavish reprinting of bluShift press releases as "news" in corporate media. 

I'm hopeful that we can raise some awareness of this issue at the Common Ground Fair this weekend. 

Geography Quiz: Black Sea Edition

Map of Black Sea (and some other bodies of water -- can you name them?) by Dino Spain on Deviant Art

After reading through the hubristic and misguided Black Sea Strategy paper issued by neo-con think tank The Heritage Foundation, a group of us decided the Pentagon should not send the Coast Guard there until U.S. citizens can find it on a map.

Since this could take a while, we'd better get started.

Map A - This nation, unlike the U.S., actually has an extensive border with the Black Sea.

Map B -  This Black Sea bordering nation is referred to in the quote below from Jim W. Dean and Gordon Duff's March 4, 2022 article "Blackwater Mercenaries: NATO's Secret Weapon in Ukraine War":

The Machiavellian plan of NATO’s military strategists is to establish refugee settlements with the “humanitarian assistance” in the border regions of Ukraine’s neighboring countries.. and then provide guerrilla warfare training and lethal arms to all able-bodied men of military age in order to “bleed Russia’s security forces" in the protracted irregular warfare.

Map C - Like Ukraine, this Black Sea bordering nation has regions where Russia stepped in during 2008 to protect the lives of Russophone citizens under bombardment from their own government. 

Bonus question: What U.S. senator was the first to come to this nation after the events of 2008 to pledge U.S. undying support against Russia?

Map D -  In January 2023, this country's national gas company made a deal with a Turkish energy company to transit 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas each year, about half of the country's annual consumption. The country had become unable or unwilling to continue buying Russian gas because of a requirement to pay in roubles.

Map E - Making a return appearance to my geography quiz series, this NATO nation is so strategically located in controlling maritime access to the Black Sea that it often risks U.S. wrath to cooperate with Russia, and vice versa.

Map F - This country's borders have changed significantly over the course of its civil war, and its short border with the Black Sea continues to grow shorter as it wages war against its Russophone citizens and former citizens.

Maps sourced from Free Country Map except this one, modified from SouthFront

Answer Key

Map A - Russia

Map B - Romania

Map C - Georgia

Map D - Bulgaria

Map E - Turkiye

Map F - Ukraine

Title map - Other bodies of water include the Sea of Azov (upper right of Black Sea), the Sea of Marmara (below the Black Sea), and the Mediterranean Sea (eastern tip at far left under the Black Sea)

Bonus question: Senator Joe Biden of Delaware

What Do You Tell Your Children About 9/11?

Detail from the graphic novel I Survived the attacks of September 11, 2001

The empire never stops churning out soft propaganda to make sure that the next generations in the U.S. are as confused about their government's wrongdoings as their forebears were. When do you tell your own children the truth? And how do you present it in terms they are able to understand?

I've previously mentioned the publishing company Scholastic which does a lot of the heavy lifting around selling pro-war, pro-imperialism narratives to young children. One of their mechanisms for infiltrating public schools is through book fairs, thoroughly commercial enterprises that reach right into publicly funded school time to sell kids on militarism with books that come with their own set of dog tags. Never too young to start thinking about being cannon fodder for the empire!

A Scholastic series that is very popular with a first grader I love is the I Survived series. Among historical fiction about a character who survives the great molasses flood in Boston or the shark attacks of 1916 we find the title: I SURVIVED THE ATTACKS OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001.

Consuming stories about peril like fairy tales or historical fiction is a way to process our fears as fragile human beings. Preying on this tendency in order to sell imperial narratives is a way to make money while serving the power structures that can make our lives prosperous or miserable.

But what to tell the children?

Australian mom Caitlin Johnstone wrote today: 

Humans have two adulthoods: the first is physical maturity, the second is intellectual maturity. The second adulthood is the process of learning that everything you were taught about the world in childhood is false, and discovering the truth of what’s really going on. The first adulthood is thrust upon us by nature and time, while the second is a conscious and deliberate process we choose for ourselves. All humans reach the first adulthood if they live long enough. Very few reach the second.

I prefer the discovery method of education but what is a reasonable response to the barrage of misinformation visited upon a typical American 1st grader?

Well friends, I came right out and said in response to many questions about the details of the 9/11 attack in New York City: Your own government caused 9/11. This news was received with skepticism (hooray!) and then I faced the fundamental pedagogical question, how best to support my claim for this audience?

I went with the amazing coincidence between what the event would come to be called and the three digit emergency services number that all in the U.S. had known for years: dial 911.

Still skeptical (hooray!).

Then I felt it only fair to protect my loved one who is still quite an innocent child by adding: If you say this at school, some people might get mad at you.

You may disagree with my choices. I had the benefit of a father who told me the hard truth about political realities long before most children were thought old enough to handle it. I think this accelerated what Johnstone calls the second adulthood. It's been a benefit in my life, not a curse.

What do you tell the children about 9/11?

Destroying The Ozone Layer, One Rocket Launch At A Time

Sharing a guest post today by a long time activist around the environmental threats of militarism. (Images added.) Newspapers local to Vandenberg SFB didn't want to publish this fine op-ed, preferring instead to regurgitate government and corporate press releases that boost militarized space programs.

Vandenberg Space Programs Threaten Santa Barbara

by Nina Beety

 Why is the ozone layer deteriorating despite international action such as the ban on CFCs? The misleading green and blue on NASA’s maps actually signifies low ozone.

The aerospace industry is a major factor. Dallas et al (2020): [O]zone depletion is one of the largest environmental concerns surrounding rocket launches from Earth.” NASA discovered in 2007 that UV-C and UV-B were already reaching the Earth but failed to act. UV radiation is having lethal effects on species now.

Rockets destroy ozone. Rocket emissions from the four principal fuel types “cause prompt and deep ozone loss (approaching 100%) in the immediate plume wake, caused by the radical emissions, over areas of hundreds of square miles lasting several days after launch. These stratospheric ‘‘ozone mini-holes’’ have been well observed in situ by high altitude aircraft plume sampling campaigns.”(Ross et al, 2009) Radicals are oxides of hydrogen, nitrogen, bromine, and chlorine. “Stratospheric ozone levels are controlled by catalytic chemical reactions driven by only trace amounts of reactive gases and particles…A single radical molecule emitted into the stratosphere, for example, can destroy up to ~10⁵ [100,000] ozone molecules before being deactivated and transported out of the stratosphere. ..[D]irect injection into the stratosphere over a limited area (a rocket plume, for example) will cause a prompt, localized, ozone ‘‘hole.’’

Vandenberg is damaging the ozone layer locally over Santa Barbara County now. Yet the Coastal Commission in June quietly approved SpaceX’s expansion there to 36 launches per year, and in September, will likely approve a new Phantom Space Company space complex at Vandenberg and allow 48 rocket launches per year. That’s 1.5 launches per week, and more projects are coming. Commission staff claim their hands are tied.

The shockwave of de-orbiting debris, satellites, and rockets creates nitric oxide which also destroys ozone.

Further, the sun makes ozone and replenishes the ozone layer in the stratosphere, but rocket pollutants there, including exhaust, water vapor, soot, and alumina, block the sun’s rays from repairing the ozone layer. And those rocket byproducts accumulate with every launch, persisting for up to three years before falling out.

Researchers including Martin Ross, Darin Toohey, and James Vedda have repeatedly warned the industry that public awareness could curtail rocket launches.

The long-lived aerospace pollution also acts like an insulating blanket, trapping Earth’s natural and human-made heat from venting into space. This will cause planetary warming and destabilize the climate.

Other serious problems exist. Aerospace pollution and explosions contaminate land, air, water, and ocean, harming wildlife. Nuclear spacecraft are being developed. Orbital congestion has created collision risks. And when rockets and satellites de-orbit, they burn and disintegrate into dust, gases, and flaming debris that fall down; the FCC proposes a 1 in 10,000 casualty risk from fall-out as “acceptable”.

Results of a SpaceX launch fail that caused a forest fire in Texas

Satellite systems also increase RF-EMF radiation exposure globally, damaging health and disrupting wildlife’s ability to navigate by Earth’s natural EMF fields. Bees, insects, and birds are particularly vulnerable. The U.S. Department of Interior warned in 2014 about this radiation’s devastating impacts to birds, and in 2020, a New Mexico 5G “live fire” drill by SpaceX and the military may have killed up to several million birds in the region. Emissions just discovered from SpaceX equipment may also interfere with the magnetosphere and Earth’s natural electric circuit, leading to extreme weather.

Federal and state legislators ignore this toxic reality.

In 2020, there were 2000 satellites total in the sky. By 2021, the number rose to 4800, the FCC approved 17,270 low earth orbit (LEO) satellites, with 65,912 more applications pending, while governments and private companies planned an additional 30,947+ (Firstenberg, 2022). More are coming. These numbers don’t include medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites or rockets into space.

LEOs are short-lived, needing frequent replacement. Science author Arthur Firstenberg: “In 2021, there were 146 orbital rocket launches to put 1,800 satellites into space. At that rate, to maintain and continually replace 100,000 low-earth-orbit satellites, which have a lifespan of five years, would require more than 1,600 rocket launches per year, or more than four every day, forever into the future.”  Aleksandr Dunayev of the Russian Space Agency said in 1991: “About 300 launches of the [space] shuttle each year would be a catastrophe, and the ozone layer would be completely destroyed.”

This is a worldwide problem. There is no environmental oversight. That is unacceptable.

It’s long past time to strip back the curtain and expose the aerospace industry, including space tourism and military programs. Those who want to stop climate change and protect the ozone layer and the Earth must take action.

More information:

freethesky.org

safetechinternational.org

space4peace.org

bbilan.org/hhtisatellites

Burning Man Or Drowning Man? Climate Apparently Can't Change Human Behavior

My friend and neighbor is a past chief of the Penobscot Nation here in Wabanaki territory. He's been on social media recently harshly criticizing indigenous elders who fly in to big conferences about -- well, anything really. His point: flying harms the climate significantly, and anyone who claims to be concerned about the environment should not be flying.

I thought of his long-standing advice when hearing about the Burning Man festival this year being inundated with rain and then immobilized by mud. One person has died out of approximately 70,000 who are locked down in the campsite since motoring, bicycling, or even walking through the thick, soupy mud is nearly impossible. And there's more rain on the way.

Mud photos by Trevor Hughes/USA Today Network

This made me think of another friend, an adventurous grandmother who traveled to Burning Man this year. I hope she's okay. When she told me she was finally going to attend after years of wanting to, I realized how much I avoid large crowds that I would have gleefully joined in my youth. Maybe it was the experience of attending a solar eclipse festival in India in 1980 with one million people? Or maybe it was traveling to big antiwar demonstrations in various U.S. cities that led me to reflect on why my political advocacy carbon footprint was so big.

"Phoenix" was the first of several burnings at the festival this year, with a trident emerging from the ashes that creators said represents the resilience of Ukrainian people.

Another notable thing about Burning Man 2023 is that the festival opened with an homage to Ukraine. From Evan Haddad writing in the Reno Gazette Journal:

The project was funded by Come Back Alive, a foundation that provides support to service members in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The organization, which was created by Ukraine's deputy minister of defense, Vitality Deynega, purchases equipment to help equip Ukrainian service members.

The creators probably knew it would play well with a wealthy audience that is heavily invested in the military-industrial complex: "Charter planes are descending on the Nevada desert -- and the pop-up Black Rock City airport -- as tech bros and billionaires gather for Burning Man" wrote Grace Kay in Business Insider.

One of the estimated 2,000 private plane flights to Burning Man, which has its own pop-up airport each year. Credit: FlightAware.

 

But what it reminded me of was this piece I had just seen in Canada's Globe and Mail: “Ukraine’s substandard medical supplies are endangering soldiers as the war intensifies.” 

Vladyslav Wolovin and Anton Skyba posting from Kyiv wrote:

“This guy should have survived,” Dr. Sobolevskyy said, as he recounted treating an injured soldier at a stabilization point in Orikhove, less than five kilometres from the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Despite the short distance, it took several hours for the soldier to be safely evacuated to the medical post. He arrived with three tourniquets that had been tightly wrapped around his legs by fellow soldiers. One was broken. None of them created enough pressure to prevent blood loss. “Simply put, he bled to death because of these substandard tourniquets”

Nowhere in the article is corruption named as a contributing factor, but medical volunteers shared that they've tried in vain to go through official channels in Ukraine to remedy the problem of sub-standard medical supplies. Ironically, the very corrupt Biden administration scolded Ukrainian officials over corruption this week and invoked the rule of law (doubtful if the Ukrainians brought up Julian Assange).

We aren't going to burn, fly, or bomb our way out of climate catastrophe. NATO's proxy war on Russia in Ukraine has been terrible for the environment, including climate. But hey Lockheed Martin made a lot of money off the Ukrainian people's suffering! Never mind the globally widespread flooding and off the charts temperatures this summer in the northern hemisphere. Gaze upon your stock portfolio instead!