Vandenberg Launches, No
Vandenberg should not be allowed to launch 100 rockets in a year. The environmental impacts, and impact on the quality of life of hundreds of thousands of human residents in our region, should be obvious. Aside from the gases and particulate matter that are deposited into the atmosphere, there is a non-zero risk of explosions and debris raining down over large areas. No plans or dedicated resources exist to clean up such debris, to my knowledge.
In terms of noise pollution, I recall one sonic boom which occurred at a very early morning hour: it rattled my dwelling so severely I woke up with the thought that a tree had fallen on the roof or an earthquake had struck. If dogs in the neighborhood start barking, my cat runs to hide, and my heart rate increases with sense of panic, it stands to reason that wild animals are negatively impacted by stress and the disruption of their routine behaviors.
A second boom I recall occurred when I was in a classroom. Students were surprised and started asking if there had been a car crash outside, or if there was an on-campus emergency to which we needed to react. It is for similar reasons that Air Force and Navy aircraft almost never break the sound barrier near populated areas, and Concord airliners (when operational) waited until they were well over the Atlantic before breaking the sound barrier.
It is no secret that Falcon 9 launches with Starlink payloads further enrich the richest person in the world, who is known to assert anti-democratic and racist viewpoints, and deliberately spread misinformation for political purpose, in interviews and on his social media platform. Catering to an organization headed by such a person degrades the reputation of Space Force and public perception of spacefaring ventures more generally. And for what? So more people in rural areas and in foreign countries can stream movies and play videogames at a high frame rate? Is high-speed internet needed for essential tasks like paying a bill or scheduling a medical appointment? Couldn’t governments find less expensive and less intrusive ways of providing this service through cable infrastructure?
Some will point out the “national security” goals associated with the increased launch cadence proposed by DOD. The reality is that the USA already has a massive nuclear arsenal, the largest air force in the world, the second largest navy in the world, and more military bases across the globe than any other country by far. We also have the most expensive and advanced fighter jets, bombers, and submarines, and are part of the largest and most powerful military alliance in history (at least at time of writing). I do not accept their justification.
Militarization of space, furthermore, should be recognized as a potential cause of a third world war, just as arms buildups in the early 1900s and 1930s contributed to the first and second.