Local realtor Craig Grove sent the statement below in as a comment on the "Environment Texas" petition posted on this blog. Craig has been promoting SpaceX on his Facebook page.
Craig's comments are unnecessarily personal and shrill in tone, making an unemotional discussion more difficult. Craig questions whether Boca Chica beach could be described as "pristine" and wonders out loud if I've actually been up and down the beach or "taken my kids to play in the surf." LOL! Our son is older than Craig. We don't "take him to play" anymore. The picture on the upper left was taken at Boca Chica in 1970, three years before Mr. Grove's birth.. The picture in the upper right is Nena with our granddog at the beach. As far as fishing in the bay is concerned, we do not fish. We did live at Arroyo City for 5 years with our property line bordering the Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge and have been to most every nook in the laguna including Green Island.
We've been up and down every inch of the beach and on the Mexican side at Playa Baghdad as well and explored the adjacent hectares. My description of Boca Chica as "pristine" refers to it still being undeveloped commercially, not saying that empty cans of Bud Light or discarded Pampers don't hit the beach. That kind of personal trash can be cleaned up in a day or two whereas the pollutants of an industrial site not so much.(Actually, we go to the beach nearly every non-holiday week and have not found it particularly trashy.)
We're not opposed to SpaceX necessarily, although not in favor of a site adjacent to Boca Chica. It's way premature to support a project before we know how much it will cost and before an environmental study is done. To use one of Craig's hot button phrases, we're trying to "act like adults."
Brownsville LivingJune 2, 2012 7:53 PMWe've been up and down every inch of the beach and on the Mexican side at Playa Baghdad as well and explored the adjacent hectares. My description of Boca Chica as "pristine" refers to it still being undeveloped commercially, not saying that empty cans of Bud Light or discarded Pampers don't hit the beach. That kind of personal trash can be cleaned up in a day or two whereas the pollutants of an industrial site not so much.(Actually, we go to the beach nearly every non-holiday week and have not found it particularly trashy.)
We're not opposed to SpaceX necessarily, although not in favor of a site adjacent to Boca Chica. It's way premature to support a project before we know how much it will cost and before an environmental study is done. To use one of Craig's hot button phrases, we're trying to "act like adults."
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a person/organization that has admittedly never been
to Boca Chica beach and almost definitely has no
real understanding of the issues we face in our community. It's quite simple to sit up there in Austin and tell us what
we should do in our own backyard.
Furthermore, they are cherry picking data from a
report released by a government body outlining the
worst possible scenarios of putting in a launch pad but
no at all looking specifically at this specific project and
with no regard to the Environmental Impact Study that is currently
getting underway.
So I guess they are just assuming that we have no good judgement
down here and can't make decisions on our own and based on
good science. Silly us for thinking we can handle our own issues.
As to the data about effecting eco-tourism... well, it's rather convenient
that they are using numbers that are compiled for the entire region with
no respect to what actually is generated just on Boca Chica Beach.
They fail to mention that there is not a birding center there or any type
of facilities aside of a Border Patrol Check Point. The county barely picks
up trash out there so there goes the whole pristine dunes argument Jim
tries to make. Jim, when was the last time you actually went down there
or traveled from the mouth of the Rio Grande Valley to the jetties? Have
you ever done it? I have. Have you ever stopped to look at the shear
volume of trash or picked any of it up? I have. Have you ever taken your
kids down there to play in the surf? Have you ever gone fishing in
South Bay or kayaking? I have. Has Mr. Luke Metzger who is apparently
so concerned ever done any of these things? No he is too busy chilling
at coffee shops in Austin and crafting press releases and initiatives
that could negatively effect our future.
I want to protect the environment just as much as anyone and would go
as far as to say I have spent more time in it then a large portion of
the people claiming to want to protect it. I would never want to do
anything that would hurt that area. That is the purpose of the EIS. Let's
do the research and find out what the harm can be. It's not as if they
don't have a ton of eyes on them. Then when the study is done,
let's analyze the data and see if we can mitigate the potential damage.
Once we have done that, let's review what we can't mitigate and see if
there are things that can be done to compensate. Just saying "no"
without doing that is short sighed and frankly, bad business. If we are
to grow out of this economic funk and provide hope and opportunity for
our area's children, we have to act like adults and research the facts
before making decisions.
Everyone needs to get over this idea that people are always trying to
screw or take advantage of another. They need to look at the entire
situation from all angles and make a well informed educated decision.
Let's hope our community and our leaders continue to do that. Let's hope
we all work together for what is best for Brownsville, not just our own
self-interest.