UPDATE: May 2, 2025
Maybe Elon Musk can’t be stopped after all. Late Wednesday night, the Texas House State Affairs Committee revived a Senate version of House Bill 4660, which gives SpaceX control of the South Texas Beach it’s currently set up on.
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After months of lobbying from Rio Grande Valley environmental activists and local residents, there’s finally some progress on stopping Elon Musk’s SpaceX rockets and their Boca Chica takeover. Texas lawmakers voted against giving the rocket maker company more control over a public beach and main highway near its launch site in the area.
The narrow 7 to 6 vote on Monday came as the Elon Musk-owned company awaits the results of a local election that would turn its Starbase facility into an incorporated Texas city, CNBC reported. The election will end on Saturday.
The Texas House State Affairs Committee rejected House Bill 4660, which would have increased SpaceX’s control of Boca Chica Beach should the facility become the state’s newest city. According to the Texas Tribune, the launch site has about 500 residents, including SpaceX employees and around 120 children. SpaceX has closed roads and beaches around Starbase while conducting test flights and launches, CNBC reported.
“Public and regulatory officials must listen to our concerns that the facility is harming our wildlife habitat, homes, waterways, and daily lives,” said Bekah Hinojosa, co-founder of the South Texas Environmental Justice Network on Monday. “We strongly oppose Elon Musk’s dangerous SpaceX rocket facility, his Starbase company town election, and his attempted beach takeover.”
As The Barbed Wire previously reported, lots of people aren’t happy about SpaceX’s operation in the Rio Grande Valley. Multiple Valley-based organizations have pursued legal complaints, and SpaceX has repeatedly violated wastewater regulations, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Yet, the commission also declined residents’ requests to reconsider SpaceX’s permit to dump up to 358,000 gallons of wastewater into South Texas wetlands in February, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
Of course, Musk feels no remorse for the environmental impacts of SpaceX. Following a New York Times investigation in July about his company destroying bird habitats, Musk vowed to “refrain from having omelette for a week” as a way to “make up for this heinous crime” on X.
For Lupita Sanchez, the director of Border Workers United, the vote against HB 4660 marks a step toward promoting the importance of protecting the community’s wildlife and environment, according to a statement released on Monday.
Juan Mancias, the tribal chairman for the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, said local organizations and his tribe will keep applying pressure on officials who side with SpaceX.
“We continue to defend our sacred ancestral lands and our inherent rights to access Boca Chica Beach, the mouth of the river, and this beautiful area that SpaceX is polluting and trying to steal from our people and our communities,” Mancias said in a statement on Monday. “We refuse to be collateral damage for corrupt corporation’s profits.”
