The aerospace industry’s damage to the environment and harm to birds, other wildlife, and humans is deplorable. A full-scale, indepth analysis of all aerospace programs and plans is long overdue and urgently needed.
Despite the area’s ecological importance, SpaceX has conducted and expanded operations with little oversight by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and without a comprehensive study of impacts on wildlife and the environment.
From the American Bird Conservancy
February 2022
Aerospace company SpaceX is putting birds and other wildlife at risk in the coastal region of Boca Chica, Texas.
The SpaceX facility in Boca Chica is surrounded by federal and state public lands used by hundreds of thousands of individual birds of many different species throughout the year – from the federally Threatened Piping Plover and Red Knot to the Endangered Northern Aplomado Falcon. These lands also support several species of sea turtle and mammals listed under the Endangered Species Act.
Despite the area’s ecological importance, SpaceX has conducted and expanded operations with little oversight by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and without a comprehensive study of impacts on wildlife and the environment.
Help protect birds in Boca Chica: Please demand a full-scale, in-depth analysis of SpaceX’s environmental impacts.
Update:
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has pushed back the final review of SpaceX’s Starship rocket project in Boca Chica, Texas, due to a deluge of comments from bird conservation activists.
The FAA is going through more than 19,000 responses as it develops the final Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) for the Starship project. The document’s new release date is March 28th.
Join thousands of ABC activists who have already spoken up to keep birds and other wildlife in Boca Chica safe from the negative impacts of SpaceX’s operations. Sign our new petition urging the FAA and SpaceX to conduct a full-scale, in-depth analysis of SpaceX’s environmental impacts.
Ongoing construction, fires, and rocket debris have impacted important bird and wildlife habitats, harming vulnerable bird species, including the federally Threatened Red Knot and Piping Plover.
How serious is the threat to birds? According to an analysis by Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program in Corpus Christi, the Piping Plover population in the Boca Chica region has decreased by 54 percent over the past 3 years since SpaceX started testing and launching rockets.
Despite the dangers to birds, the FAA has provided minimal oversight of SpaceX even as it expands operations.
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Sincerely,
Michael J. Parr
President
American Bird Conservancy
Free The Sky 