The rapidly advancing construction of the Gigafactory near Berlin is controversial. Now there is a setback for the US group – at least for the time being.
In an urgent decision, the Frankfurt / Oder Administrative Court stopped the clearing of further areas for the Tesla factory on December 7, 2020. The Brandenburg state associations of the Green League and the Nabu had submitted an urgent application against the approval of further clearing of 82.8 hectares of forest.
The ÖDP welcomes this quick decision by the court. “That is good and important news,” said the ÖDP federal chairman Christian Rechholz. With the help of the extensive financial participation of the ÖDP, the Green League Brandenburg e. V. as co-plaintiff together with the Nabu set the first warning sign.
“Here it pays off again that the ÖDP can act completely free of corporate interests because it does not accept corporate donations,” said Christian Rechholz, the party’s national chairman. “We welcome this step by the two environmental associations. With this procedure it becomes very clear that independent, critical nature conservation associations are needed that are consistently committed to nature conservation, even when it hurts.”
The administrative court shows with the latest decision that it will deal with the questions raised, such as the killing of strictly protected species. It was different with the clearing in February 2020. “That was the first important step, we are staying on the ball,” said the ÖDP federal chairman.
Tesla takes action at its own risk
Trees have been falling on the affected areas since last week. The group has already cleared 90 hectares of forest. The final environmental approval for the factory construction from the state of Brandenburg is still pending.
Starting in summer 2021, up to 500,000 vehicles per year are to be produced in Grünheide, for which around 12,000 jobs are planned. Tesla continues to carry out the approved measures at its own risk. If the final approval of the project is not given, all buildings that have already been erected must be removed and the area reforested at the investor’s expense.
The forest in question is actually more of a wood plantation than a forest. The pines and spruces are allowed to grow until they are ready to be harvested and then felled. So the economic benefit of this area is and has always been the focus. Just to be clear: I am an advocate for environmental protection and nature conservation.
The very idea of which area is now being sealed off so that it is removed from the environment and the climate makes me shudder. This is called progress when a person is in the process of further destroying his livelihood. All in the name of the supposed new environmentally friendly technologies – which is a contradiction in terms.
And the drivel about reforestation elsewhere is just as hypocritical as it is pointless because, on the one hand, it has not been proven and, on the other hand, the effect would only occur when our generation has long since rotted away.
So what is all this weakness supposed to mean. No more building new combustion engines, converting existing production facilities and reactivating existing, abandoned and unused industrial areas instead of destroying areas.