[mhotchen]

I did some sleuthing recently because I am quite sceptical about the whole "burn rocket fuel to go to space during a climate disaster" thing and found a study indicating that the current trend is going to cause more damage than CFCs.

"Future ozone losses from unregulated rocket launches will eventually exceed ozone losses due to chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, which stimulated the 1987 Montreal Protocol banning ozone-depleting chemicals, said Martin Ross, chief study author from The Aerospace Corporation in Los Angeles"

"If left unregulated, rocket launches by the year 2050 could result in more ozone destruction than was ever realized by CFCs."

I think their, and the government's, motivations should be under heavy scrutiny right now. They're both externalising costs. The damage needs to be priced in. I think there's a lot of untapped research to be explored for alternative ways of lobbing things in to orbit.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090331153014.h...