Climate protesters in Germany broke through police barricades as activists and law enforcement clashed on Friday. Protesters either (according to protesters) or (according to local police) marched onto the grounds of the Tesla gigafactory in Grünheide, Germany, near Berlin. It’s part of a five-day demonstration planned ahead of a local government vote next week to determine whether Tesla’s factory can expand.
Wired marked social media videos shows Activists, most of whom are camped in treehouses in nearby forest camps, rush to the Tesla building in the area. In addition, the German newspaper Welt At least one person involved was injured. Police reportedly used pepper spray and batons to disperse the crowd, and at least some arrests were made.
This was reported by the spokesperson of one of the groups participating in the protests Wired broke through the police barriers and raided the Tesla area. “Eight hundred people entered the premises of the gigafactory,” said Lucia Mende of Disrupt Tesla. But the local police placed in X (Your mask social media platform) said activists only reached the area facing the site. “So far we have been able to prevent their entry,” they wrote.
At least at first glance, it’s easy to wonder why activists are putting so much energy into fighting Tesla. After all, despite the mask increasingly empty right wing conspiracy and Nazi food At X, other automakers pushing gas-powered cars seem like more appropriate targets (not to mention big-spenders for fossil fuel companies). disinformation against climate reform). However, several factors make the issues at the heart of the protests less straightforward.
A (non-compulsory) vote in February showed the residents of Grünheide opposed almost a two-to-one expansion. If for no other reason, the fact that local government has the chance to override the overwhelming will of the electorate in the name of capitalism is enough to raise the eyebrows of anyone who abhors minority rule.
Wired notes the area is also one of the most water-scarce in Germany, and residents worry that the gigafactory will drain the resource, leaving less for the people who live there. The plant can also pollute local water supplies.
These fears have merit: the plant has a license to use 1.4 million cubic meters of water per year. Wired report As of Tuesday, he noted that it was enough to supply a large city. As for pollution fears, it was Tesla is fined in 2019 by the EPA for several hazardous waste violations at a California factory. The company paid a total of $31,000 to settle. (Tesla had a market cap of almost $76 billion in 2019.)
But some of the protesting groups have concerns that go beyond the more pressing issues affecting local populations, arguing instead for the all-electric vehicle movement. “Companies like Tesla are there to save the auto industry, not to save the climate,” said Esther Kamm, spokeswoman for Turn Off the Faucet at Tesla. Wired.
Just another activist who gives Wired The name Mara described the factory as the result of “green capitalism”. He sees the EV movement as nothing more than a theatrical performance for profit. “This is completely deliberate by such companies to get more growth even in times of environmental crisis,” he said.
I wouldn’t exactly say flipping the bird EV movement is a “workable” solution to the very real and pressing climate crisis. Regardless of your thoughts on the matter, the world you need to act quickly to overcome the most devastating effects of climate change, and the scientific consensus is that the planned transition to EVs must play a central role.
Tesla’s factory workers have been told to work from home, shutting down factories for Friday’s planned protests. As for Friday’s protests, Welt in the afternoon it means things have calmed down – at least for now.
