(This letter first appeared in the Brownsville Herald. We are reprinting it here with permission from the author.)
I am a Brownsville native. However, I spent much of my life away from Brownsville in other countries, other parts of Texas, and a number of years in Portland, Oregon. Having been in Brownsville during my formative years gave me a unique perspective. In the 90s, I watched Portland go from big town to large booming city. Upon my return to Texas, I appreciated anew how fortunate we are to have the wonderful open beaches at the north end of South Padre Island, and the entirety of Boca Chica beach.
I recently happened to see Elon Musk on 60 Minutes, then shortly thereafter learned that SpaceX was looking at Brownsville. Let me state for the record that I am not an opponent of SpaceX, I think Elon Musk is brilliant. However, I am opposed to having them set up shop at the edge of Boca Chica beach.
The message is that their presence will bring lots of jobs to the area. In theory that is great, but the reality is quite different. Obviously, there would be the initial construction jobs, but the full-time specialized jobs would largely go to people from outside the area. Out of curiosity I looked at their website. I have a college degree and a variety of work experience, but I did not find a job for which I would qualify.Next was the May 15 Public Scoping Meeting. Coincidentally, my schedule opened up such that I was able to attend. I learned a bit about the company, but not nearly enough about the impact it would have on Boca Chica and all the wildlife. Rather it felt like a huge pep rally. I had numerous concerns, but didn't feel comfortable speaking up in the midst of all the cheerleading.
Afterwards I became exceedingly concerned when I realized the short span between the meeting and May 30 submittal deadline for comments. I proceeded to spend every spare minute identifying which environmental groups and/or state agencies to contact, to sort out what, if anything, could be done to stop this project.
Among others, I contacted the Texas Audubon Society, the Austin Sierra Club, the Nature Conservancy and the Valley Land Trust. My goal was to make them aware of the deadline and ask them to weigh in on the issue. I was able to get a copy of the Sierra Club comments. I assume the other environmental groups had similar concerns.
A few days after the meeting, a friend stumbled upon the Texas Open Beaches Act. Upon further investigation I learned that it was created in 1959, and then strengthened in 2009 when the Legislature voted to approve Proposition 9, a legislatively-referred constitutional amendment to the Texas Constitution. It states, in part: "The public, individually and collectively, has an unrestricted right to use and a right of ingress to and egress from a public beach. The right granted by this subsection is dedicated as a permanent easement in favor of the public."
On May 30 I stayed up late to finish and ultimately submit my questions. I woke up the next day not sure what to do next. It occurred to me that the General Land Office might have some answers. I called and got right through to a woman in the Beach Access department. She said they had just submitted their comments and offered a condensed version. Apparently the first step in the process is to secure a Beach Dune Permit. However, the GLO will not issue one to SpaceX. The explanation was quite simple. Since Highway 4 is the only road to/from the beach, SpaceX does not have the authority to close the road and therefore, the beach.
I questioned what, if anything, SpaceX could possibly do to get a permit. Apparently, the only option would be to request that Cameron County change the local law which would require amendment of the Dune Protection Plan. She seemed to think it was unlikely to happen, but if it could, the process would likely take anywhere from six months to a year.
Later I browsed the plan myself. A quick scan suggests that whatever Cameron County decides would have to be in accordance with the General Land Office, the Texas Attorney General and FEMA.
People need jobs, but they also need wide open spaces. Not everything can be put into dollars. How much is taking your kids to the beach worth?
7 comments:
We don't have to worry about Brownsville becoming another Portland. Brownsville is more likely to become another Cameron Park. As long as Brownsville adheres to the policies of "ignorance is bliss" and "we demand corruption in government" we are more likely to go backward than forward; and those who might be prepared for jobs with SpaceX will leave for places like Portland.
If this writer is opposed to SpaceX, why isn't he/she opposed to corruption in government, terrible education system, and all the trash that we see on and along our streets and highways. Why do so many want to keep Cameron County a "Third World" environment????
Who says the writer ISN'T "opposed to corruption in government, terrible education system, and all the trash that we see on and along our streets and highways"? Yours is simply a straw man argument.
For the record: I came to Brownsville in 1944 when Ft. Brown was still an active military post. I am for the people of Cameron county in all ways.
I am deeply troubled by the corruption and dishonesty that seems to be endemic and systemic. I am deeply troubled that our streets look more like Mexico's than the United States. I am speaking of trash and litter. I am concerned that the young people are getting cheated from a quality education. In short I am against everything that drags Brownsville down and certainly do not want it to be the rectum of the country.
All of that said, I think parking a missle launch site down on Boca Chica will only downgrade what little of value we have left down here. The corrupt politicians are rubbing their hands together thinking of how they can line their pockets with SpaceX dollars.
If you brings SpaceX down here, it won't clean up the trash, better the kids education, make the public officials honest or give hundreds of $55K jobs to local people. It will just destroy the only last wide area we have left to pass on to the young people of this part of the world and enrich the crooks that we elect as leaders.
*applause* That was bad ass! Haven't been able to read the opinion pages since I'm out of town for the summer, but this was a severely needed viewpoint the herald was avoiding.
The rest of us support SpaceX!
I think that stretch between Raymondville and Sarita (known as the Kinsville stretch) is a much better place for SpaceX. The propose Boca Chica site is not good because if catastrophic accident goes "south" it would create an international incident which would cost us, local tax payers. Money which we will have to pay Mexico for damages. In international affairs the offending country (government) is held responsible not the private company. We are talking of many many millions of dollars of our local tax money. We cannot afford SpaceX.
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