Texas-based environmental rights group The South Texas Environmental Justice Network said on Monday that it will hold protests outside SpaceX’s HQ in Starbase as investors visit the facility ahead of the company’s IPO.
Pressuring Pension Funds To Avoid IPO
The group’s co-founder, Bekah Hinojosa, is urging investors to boycott the IPO amid concerns about the company’s environmental impact, while also lobbying the New York City Comptroller’s office to avoid the IPO for the city’s pension fund, Reuters reported on Monday.
Hinjosa, a resident of Brownsville, which is a town near Starbase, shared that she feels like the town is “being bombed by Elon Musk.”
The report said that a failed launch at the HQ in 2023 had sent a cloud of concrete over a nearby town, as well as started a fire spanning 3.5 acres on the Boca Chica State Park land.
Cathie Wood Backs IPO
Investor Cathie Wood-led ARK Invest has backed the $1.75 trillion valuation for SpaceX’s IPO, saying that the valuation was warranted due to a “durable” trajectory of growth for SpaceX’s core businesses like Starlink, xAI and more. The fund also said that Elon Musk‘s orbital datacenter goals could be achieved, given past performances by SpaceX.
However, analysts have expressed concerns about SpaceX’s valuation, suggesting that investors participating in the IPO would likely not be seeing strong returns on their investment because much of the value for SpaceX was already priced in, should they invest in the company.
Environmental Concerns With xAI
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) recently filed a federal lawsuit against xAI, accusing the artificial intelligence startup of polluting the air in the Memphis area.
The group had earlier opposed the data center deploying gas-operated turbines, releasing harmful emissions, which were disproportionately impacting the majority-black communities in the area.
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