By Ross Kerber and Echo Wang<\/p>\n
April 20 (Reuters) – Environmental activists plan to protest outside SpaceX’s Starbase launch facilities on Tuesday ahead of the highly anticipated IPO of \u200cElon Musk’s company, pressuring big public pension funds to avoid the deal due to \u200cworries about pollution from rocket launches and safety issues.<\/p>\n
The South Texas Environmental Justice Network said its members plan to protest \u200boutside the facility’s main entrance on Tuesday as SpaceX kicks off three days of tours and meetings with Wall Street stock analysts.<\/p>\n
Network co-founder Bekah Hinojosa said she is urging investors to boycott the IPO and has lobbied the office of New York City Comptroller Mark Levine against buying the company’s \u200cshares for the city’s pension plans.<\/p>\n
The \u2060company’s rocket launches from its Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas have caused Hinojosa’s apartment in nearby Brownsville to shake. Hinojosa said she is also \u2060worried that the flames emitted by the rockets could set off fires in the dry South Texas landscape.<\/p>\n
“It doesn\u2019t feel great to feel like we\u2019re being bombed by Elon Musk,\u201d Hinojosa said in an \u200binterview on \u200bMonday.<\/p>\n
She added that she has had several conversations \u200bwith Levine’s office about SpaceX. A representative for \u200cthe comptroller declined to comment.<\/p>\n
SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
Hinojosa’s concerns underscore a quandary facing potential shareholders in what could be the biggest IPO in history.<\/p>\n