Billionaires exist: Elon Musk and SpaceX are a problem for the people, plants, and wildlife of Laguna Madre

Author: Dr. Terence Garrett, University of Texas Rio Grande, United States

Mr. Musk is one of the wealthiest men in the world, with a July 26, 2025, estimated net worth of $406.6 billion i according to Forbes. He is well known for his properties - Tesla, Boring, X (formerly Twitter), and SpaceX. This essay will examine Musk’s SpaceX property at “Spaceport City, Texas” (formerly known as Boca Chica Village) and the consequences for the majority Latino citizens living in the nearby communities of South Padre Island, Port Isabel, Laguna Heights, and Laguna Vista - cities in one of the poorest urban areas in the U.S. and the southernmost portion of Laguna Madre. ii iii 

One of the primary issues for locals is the lack of having access to a public beach that supposedly belongs to the people of Texas, however, SpaceX and Mr. Musk may close Boca Chica with little to no notice (see Table 1). 

Table 1: State of Texas, Cameron County Tax Abatements, Grants, Waivers, and Tax Incentives through 2018 for SpaceX Corporation 

Source: Austin American-Statesman, SpaceX gets 10-year tax exemption for Texas site (updated September 27, 2018 [in Sementelli & Garrett, 2025]). 

The initial promise of a “temporary loss of citizen access” to Boca Chica may become more permanent.iv 

Mr. Musk contributed at least $260 million to fellow billionaire Republican Donald Trump for his 2024 presidential campaign.v Mr. Musk’s relationship with Mr. Trump is currently adversarial, with Trump’s threats against SpaceX pending in terms of pulling government contracts. Trump recently stated, ““The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” in June 2025 as the president wrote on Truth Social.vi Not only is Mr. Musk connected nationally with an inadequate Environmental Assessment (instead of a more thorough and stringent Environmental Impact Statement) from the Federal Aviation Administration, he has had significant concessions given to him by Cameron county, the Texas state government officials in terms of tax abatements, land acquisitions, and other generous accommodations - all granted to attract SpaceX to Boca Chica.vii 

The Issue of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Refineries Scheduled to be Built Nearby 

The biggest problem that locals may have to deal with are the Texas LNG and Rio Grande LNG refineries that will be located at 5 and 7 miles away, respectively, from the SpaceX launch site. Musk’s SpaceX has already had a massive Starship launch explosion that sent large chunks of the launchpad into the wildlife refuges and Gulf of Mexico.viii Potential future explosions could have disastrous results for people, plants, and wildlife located in the lower Laguna Madre region. Proposed LNG terminals and tankers in the Brownsville shipping channel would provide more disastrous possibilities for potential death and destruction in the area were there to be an exploding rocket launch failure or some other mishap.ix

Conclusion 

Mr. Musk and SpaceX are profiting from the public land acquisitions, tax benefits and incentives offered by the U.S. federal government, Texas and Cameron County. The people, plants and wildlife located in the lower Laguna Madre are bearing the costs. Initiatives by the locals to protect themselves have slowed SpaceX and the LNG refineries locating in the area, but the wealth and political power waged against them is overwhelming. Economic justice conditions of fairness and democratic principles are potentially unavailable and inaccessible for the population of Laguna Madre facing these powerful entities. 

Terence Garrett is Professor of Political Science at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He is the author of over 40 academic papers and chapters and has been a regular to public discourse in the USA and internationally in migrants, immigration and security. He is also Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Social Economics.

References

i https://www.forbes.com/profile/elon-musk/ accessed 26/7/2025. 
ii https://www.emerald.com/jgr/article-abstract/9/1/58/218488/Proposed-liquefied-natural-gas-LNG-terminalsin
iii https://www.emerald.com/jgr/article-abstract/12/4/452/219224/Lone-Star-Wars-LNGs-communities-andglobalization
iv https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/24/starbase-spacex-boca-chica-beach-texas-legislature/
v https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/19/business/trillionaire-net-worth-oxfam-report 
vi https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/05/us/trump-musk-contracts-threat.html 
vii (Note: see Sementelli & Garrett chapter) 
viii https://www.tpr.org/environment/2023-04-27/photos-spacex-is-grounded-after-rocket-explosion-causedextensive-environmental-damage 
ix https://myrgv.com/publications/the-brownsville-herald/2024/08/13/lng-construction-to-continue-at-port-ofbrownsville-pending-mandate/