Special to the PRESS
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced on June 13, 2022, that SpaceX can move ahead with the proposed Starship Super Heavy Project in Boca Chica, Texas — a facility that American Bird Conservancy (ABC) has been raising concerns about for the past two years, including through a recent petition generating more than 30,000 signatures from concerned citizens.
“We are disappointed in this decision, but surely Elon Musk and his team don’t actually want to harm endangered species. We’re hoping that the SpaceX team will see that life here on Earth is worthy of more consideration and agree to minimizing the impacts at the Boca Chica facility,” said Mike Parr, ABC President.
Federal and state public lands surrounding the SpaceX facility in Boca Chica are used by hundreds of thousands of individual birds of many different species throughout the year.
Migratory birds like Yellow-billed Cuckoos and Golden-winged Warblers pass through each spring and fall to rest and refuel. Species that breed in the area, like the Reddish Egret and Wilson’s Plover, are already nesting in adjacent conservation areas.
ABC is deeply concerned about the facility’s impacts on wildlife habitat that support these birds, as well as species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), including the federally Threatened Piping Plover and Red Knot, and the Endangered Northern Aplomado Falcon.
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