From The Texas Newsroom:
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On the road to Boca Chica Beach sits a huge bronze sculpture of Elon Musk’s head.
The thing is nine feet tall and probably weighs half a ton. Alone on the side of State Highway 4 on the way out of Brownsville, it’s a herald with a clear message.
You are now entering Musk Country.
Drive a few more miles through the yucca and native brush and, suddenly, SpaceX’s Starbase looms ahead. Musk’s massive rocket production and testing complex dominates the land here on the Texas-Mexico border, its glass buildings dwarfing the tidal flats below.
Starship, the rocket meant to ferry humans to Mars, takes off from here. The last thing you see before you hit the Gulf is the rocket launch pad.
Boca Chica Beach is open to the public. At least, it is in theory. Every time SpaceX launches a rocket, the area must be cleared for safety reasons.
Launches at the site could be about to increase five-fold. And now, Musk wants the power to close the beach on his schedule. GOP legislators are behind him.
Local leaders and environmentalists stand in opposition. The right to access public beaches is enshrined in the Texas Constitution, they say, and should not be handed to Musk.
This fight marks the latest show of power in Texas from Musk, one of the wealthiest people in the world. As he continues to flex his power in Washington, DC, his influence is expanding more quietly here. Musk’s footprint is growing at his corporate complex in rural Central Texas. He plans a massive new park at the Tesla gigafactory near Austin. And his foundation plans to start its own education system, starting with a single Montessori-style school.
But first, Musk is coming for the beach. The battle for Boca Chica is set.