Elon Musk's plan to build Boring Co. tunnels in Nashville sparks partisan feud

Elon Musk has expanded a number of his companies within Texas, including Tesla, SpaceX, the Boring Co. and Neuralink

Tesla broke ground on a lithium refinery in Texas earlier this year with Governor Greg Abbott in attendance.Christophe Gateau | Picture Alliance | Getty ImagesElon Musk's tunneling venture, The Boring Company, announced plans earlier this week to build a 10-mile underground loop in Nashville, in coordination with Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee, who put out a press release praising the ject.Democratic lawmakers in Nashville are demanding answers on the plans, while the state's Republican leaders have jumped at the chance to partner with Musk

A state commission is holding an emergency meeting and public hearing Thursday morning to discuss a "no cost/mutual benefit" lease arrangement that's been posed to help the company get the tunnels started."We are aware of the state's conversations with the Boring Company, and we have a number of operational questions to understand the potential impacts on Metro and Nashvillians," Freddie O'Connell, Nashville's mayor, said in an e-mailed statement.Based in Pflugerville, Texas, The Boring Co. is poised to take over a chunk of public perty the size of a football field in downtown Nashville

The commission that's meeting on Thursday includes Tennessee's governor, speaker of the house, speaker of the senate and secretary of state

Members of the public were invited to give testimony but with less than a week's notice.On Monday, The Boring Co. and state officials divulged that Musk's venture would dig its tunnels under state-owned roadways in order to "connect downtown and the Convention Center to Nashville International Airport with a transit time of apximately 8 minutes."It's called the Music City Loop, and the ject marks Musk's effort to bolster his budding empire in Tennessee

His artificial intelligence startup xAI, the parent of social media platform X, is building data centers and a power plant in Memphis, on the western side of the state.The governor's office said on Monday that the Nashville ject would come "at zero cost to taxpayers" and would be "entirely privately funded," though no details were vided whether or what type of cost-benefit analysis, environment, safety or traffic assessment had been by the state before agreeing to the deal.watch now2:4402:44Threats to SpaceX & Tesla as Musk, Trump feud heats upCheckMusk became a major force in Republican last year, when he spent almost $300 million to help reelect President Donald Trump before working for the Trump administration in the first few months of this year

Musk brought The Boring Co

CEO Steve Davis with him to lead Trump's DOGE initiative, slashing federal agencies, regulations and personnel

Justin Jones, a Democratic state representative in Nashville, told CNBC on Wednesday that his district had not been able to participate in any public period, and hadn't seen any environmental impact report or health assessment related to the Music City Loop or its construction.'Not allowed to be here'On Wednesday evening, The Boring Co. held a recruiting event, with Davis in attendance, at the parking lot where the company expects the state to grant it a no-cost lease

Jones went to the event hoping to discuss the jobs that Musk's company is looking to create in his district, the lawmaker told CNBC."The CEO is here and the other members of their team, but they sent someone out to tell me that I'm not allowed to be here," Jones said in a text message, sharing a of his interaction with The Boring Co. employees at the event.On Monday, Jones arrived to a separate company event at the Nashville airport only to have authorities claim he lacked per credentials to attend.Jones told CNBC that state officials explained to him that only state-level authorizations would be required for The Boring Co. ject to begin because the tunnels would go under state roads, and would not require the use of taxpayer funds."We're not even being informed where or what exactly these tunnels are going to run through," Jones said. "Tomorrow they're voting to give away state land for no cost

But giving away land obviously has a cost."The governor's office didn't respond to a request for regarding Jones' concerns

Representatives for The Boring Co. weren't immediately available to .The Boring Co. has previously built tunnels in Las Vegas, including an initial two miles to carry visitors to different exhibit halls around the Las Vegas Convention Center

The Boring Co. was previously fined by the Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration for repeated violations and worker injuries in Las Vegas.The Musk-owned company also abandoned plans to build tunnels in other locations, including Chicago.One particular concern in Nashville is that the city is ne to flooding with an average annual rainfall of around 50 inches, according to the National Weather Service, which compares to around 4 inches in Las Vegas

The city's Metro Water Services previously arranged, with federal support, to purchase s from residents in vulnerable areas at reduced prices, and convert the land there to green spaces.The Boring Co. has no experience building in areas with that kind of rainfall and flooding concern.The public hearing to discuss whether the state will give the parking lots to The Boring Co. in a no-cost, mutual benefit lease agreement starts at 8 a.m. local time on Thursday at Cordell Hull State Office Building, according to a copy of the agenda on the state government's website.In Memphis, xAI has faced a community backlash over its use of natural gas-burning turbines which power its data center and supercomputer there

The facility, housed in a former appliance factory, is responsible for training xAI's controversial chatbot Grok.The NAACP and other environmental and public health advocates are suing xAI, saying the company exacerbated air pollution in the area, harmed majority-Black communities who near their facilities, and violated the Clean Air Act

An xAI spokesperson said at the time the groups announced their intent to sue that the company takes "our commitment to the community and environment seriously."WATCH: Tesla CEO Elon Musk says he has no plans to merge the automaker with xAIwatch now2:3502:35Tesla CEO Elon Musk: No plans to merge Tesla and xAIClosing Bell: Overtime