Green Meadow against Tesla: German eco-activists dictate their terms to Elon Musk

Local environmentalists are successfully fighting against the American "Goliath".

Yelena Ivanova

The start of production of Tesla electric vehicles is eagerly awaited in the capital of Brandenburg, Potsdam, and in Berlin, at all the headquarters of the carmakers - Volkswagen, Daimler-Benz and BMW. In Grunheide (translated as Green Meadow), where Tesla's gigafactory is being built, not only do they not wait for the opening, but are actively fighting to ensure that the promised first car rolls off the assembly line as late as possible. So far, it is not the multi-billionaire Elon Musk that wins, but several thousand people from the village of Grünheide, who have already achieved the fact that the start of car production has been postponed for six months.

Civil initiatives in Germany are not uncommon. In Eberswalde, citizens have been successfully blocking the ring road for decades. For many years the residents of Mixdorf have been fighting against the construction of wind turbines. There are dozens of such examples. Critics of such undertakings threaten to push forward a law prohibiting appeals in three instances. Steffen Schorcht, a member of the civil initiative "Grünheide against the Gigafactory", believes that only such complex legislation allowed the inhabitants of his village to successfully fight for their rights against Tesla.

Success for environmental activists is not easy everywhere - whether in Schiess or in Grünheide. Only the determination of the inhabitants can push the capitalists and the authorities, if not cancel, then at least change the original plans. Big or very big money is always at stake. According to the application for a building permit, Tesla's total investment in the Brandenburg production will amount to 1 billion 65 million euros. At the first stage, 150 thousand cars will be produced, but then the volume will grow to half a million a year. Even more important for the government is the 10,000 jobs that will be created in the depressed eastern lands. The Prime Minister of Brandenburg flew several times to Elon Musk and persuaded him to build a gigafactory in his federal land. And the residents want to breathe clean air, drink clean water and control those who are going to earn billions on their land. Since January 2020, there have been demonstrations, petitions, and appeals to the court. At first, there were protests against deforestation for the construction of factory buildings. Then the activists filed a lawsuit. The court first stopped the work, but after a while gave the green light. There is still no final building permit - the Americans are building temporary for each type of work - separately for laying communications, separately for erecting walls and building a new junction of the Autobahn. 360 complaints about the project were filed at public hearings. Most of all, environmentalists and citizens were worried about Tesla's construction of his own well. Public law TV channel CDF supported the activists. According to journalists, Tesla will consume as much water as a city with 40,000 inhabitants. It is hard to imagine that the TV channel "Russia" spoke out against the construction of the Crimean bridge due to environmental considerations. The discussion is being conducted at the highest level: Elon Musk has already expressed his point of view, making an absurd argument that it is difficult to talk about the lack of water in the region where forests grow. He was immediately answered - from that and grow, that there is still water.

The plant is being built in a water protection zone, and how much water will be taken by the enterprise will not be subject to any control. The active position of conservationists led to the fact that the Americans made changes to the project. Instead of water cooling, air cooling will be used in the production of batteries, so daily consumption will be reduced from 372 cubic meters per hour to 238. Environmentalists have lost? How to look. Raimund Schwarze, an economist and ecologist at the University of Frankfurt an der Oder, says: "I consider this decision by Tesla to be a victory for the initiative group, which has sharpened the environmental awareness of the public to the right extent".

Another small victory - the Americans had to move the factory filling station and the storage of fuels and lubricants from the water protection zone after being checked by the prosecutor's office, where vigilant citizens wrote. They say in the concern - we also know how to admit our mistakes. Teslovians recognize them only under constant pressure from the public - and nothing else.

Such complex projects go through the most complicated approval procedure in Germany. Foreign investors need to prepare for a grueling dialogue not only with the authorities, but also with citizens. Professor at the Humboldt University of Berlin, lawyer Ulrich Battis says: and rightly so. “We are a densely populated country with a distinct culture of contention. You have to endure".

As long as there is no permission for construction from the German Ministry of Nature Conservation, there are no lawsuits either. Due to the desire of Elon Musk, in addition to assembly plants, to build the largest battery factory in Europe, permission can be obtained in a few months. Since the production is harmful, new public hearings are expected in the summer. Who would doubt that hundreds of claims from activists will be filed again. The Barndenburg authorities say they have until November to issue permits. Musk has already paid 43 million euros for 300 hectares of land on which construction is underway. The entrepreneur himself came to Grünheide in April and was very indignant at why everything was going so slowly. How much he has already invested, no one knows, but the total investment will amount, according to the latest information, 5.8 billion euros. At stake is not just big, but very big money. But environmental activists are fighting further. They are no strangers - they have a lot of experience. And for Tesla's competitors - BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Volkswagen - any obstacle in the way of the Americans is an opportunity to narrow the gap and move forward in the clean car industry themselves. Munich, Stuttgart and Wolfsburg are happy about any delay in their home German market, especially since the price of Brandenburg Teslas will be lower than the current one. In this rare case, the interests of business and environmentalists coincided.