FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: Thursday, March 27th
Contact: Bekah Hinojosa, bekah@sotxejn.org, 956-975-6634
No Mas Politicos Vendidos: Rio Grande Valley Residents Protest against LNG and SpaceX at the Brownsville State of the City Address
While the City is bowing down to corporate interests like LNG and Elon Musk, the people won’t stand for it and are demanding elected officials protect their land and people
Photo credit: Juan Pablo Mancias
Link to video livestream and photo folder.
BROWNSVILLE, TX — On Wednesday, local residents, organizations, and the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe — more than 80 people — gathered outside the TSC Performing Arts Center to demonstrate their united opposition to SpaceX and Rio Grande LNG, two companies that have been wreaked havoc on the Brownsville and Rio Grande Valley community. They demanded that the city of Brownsville immediately cut ties with both corporations. Their protest came in response to Mayor Cowen reaffirming the city’s support for these companies during his State of the City address despite the harm they have caused in the community.
“Our community does not want Rio Grande LNG. We’ve made that clear,” said Josette Angelique Hinojosa with the South Texas Environmental Justice Network. “The City of Brownsville has allowed Rio Grande LNG to sponsor multiple community events. Rio Grande LNG bought and paid for his city address, which is happening inside. We are here to demand that the City of Brownsville break up and break ties with Rio Grande LNG and SpaceX.”
Local opposition to Rio Grande LNG and SpaceX has grown significantly over the years, fueled by their increasingly hazardous presence in the environment and their aggressive corporate influence on local events. Last year, a lawsuit–led by the City of Port Isabel, the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe, and local residents–forced the revaluation of Rio Grande LNG’s permit, exposing the risks to vulnerable communities in the Laguna Madre area such as particulate matter and other air pollutants. Despite this lawsuit victory, Rio Grande LNG has announced plans to expand its facility, increasing toxic air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 72 million cars per year.
At the same time, SpaceX, under Elon Musk’s leadership, is contributing to environmental destruction — polluting water sources, scorching more than sixty acres of habitat, and endangering wildlife with its rocket launches. Public Boca Chica beach access, once a vital space for fishing families and the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe communities with deep cultural ties to the land, has been repeatedly shut down to accommodate SpaceX operations. Since its active operations began in 2019, the company has sparked numerous fires and explosions, scattered rocket debris, and severely disrupted the Lower Rio Grande Valley wildlife refuge ecosystem, threatening endangered species like the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle and the piping plover.
“Mayor Cowen’s continued support of these destructive corporations is a slap in the face to the Brownsville residents he claims to represent,” said Yelitza Garcia, a leader of the Sunrise RGV. “We’ve sent over 10,000 letters calling for the city to divest from Musk’s industries, and we won’t stop until policymakers pay attention and protect our community.”
While the City of Brownsville continues to defend these industries, local activists remain steadfast in their demand for change, vowing to keep fighting for a future free from corporate pollution and exploitation.
Were we are standing, and where SpaceX and LNG is, that was paradise. Now, they’re tearing it up and destroying it, and it’s going to be ugly. What that land was for over 500 years, that was beautiful. The land the air, the land, the water there, that was beauty.” said Christa Mancias with the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas. “To have SpaceX debris killing the animals in the water and shaking your homes, we don’t need that. We need our human rights to be enacted as citizens of the United States and as human beings. It’s our human right to have these things. We need to make sure that these lawmakers understand that they violate our human rights. They have to understand that we have the power to own our rights to have clean air, clean water, and clean land and make sure our future generations can live here.”
Organizations attending the protest included the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, Sunrise RGV, Texas Youth Activists Alliance, Valley Interfaith, Border Workers United, and others.
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