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At the beginning of July, Tesla received permission from the Brandenburg authorities to expand its Grünheide production plant, the largest in Europe.However, there are numerous concerns from environmental activists and the local population, who denounce the huge amount environmental damage and the deprivation of fundamental resources such as water from citizens, in a region already severely affected by drought.According to recent data processing, the development of the current plant has already cost the reduction of 500 thousand trees.To this data is added that of 1.4 million cubic meters of water which the multi-billionaire Elon Musk's company is authorized to use annually, in addition to the fear on the part of the inhabitants of the possible contamination of the groundwater due to the numerous environmental accidents that have already occurred in the plant.
Between approximately 2020 and 2023 329 hectares of forest were leveled for the construction of the production plant near Berlin, operational from 2022, with the felling of approximately 500 thousand trees.THE data they were developed by Karryos, a company that measures the impact of human activities on the environment, based on satellite images.Antoine Halff, chief analyst at Karryos, told the Guardian that the trees felled to make room for the previous expansion are equivalent to 13 thousand tons of CO2, or the emissions of approximately 2,800 combustion engine cars.Tesla also admitted that several environmental accidents had occurred at the plant, including leaks or spills of toxic substances such as oil, aluminum and paint, but that "corrective measures" had been applied.The citizens of Grünheide (two thirds of whom had already expressed their opposition to the construction of the plant in the area) have already expressed their fears several times regarding the contamination of groundwater and the removal of this resource from the territory by the company, authorized by the authorities to use 1.4 million cubic meters per year - roughly equivalent to the needs of a city of 40 thousand inhabitants.
«The production of an electric car creates a huge ecological footprint through the consumption of resources and thus further drives the global climate catastrophe" writes the Disrupt Tesla collective, which together with others occupied in March the forests of Grünheide against the expansion of the plant and has since then conducted various protest actions.«Lithium extraction (the main raw material for battery production) causes incredible destruction in the mining areas.Entire portions of land and ecosystems are devastated, as water is used for extraction or returned to contaminated aquifers.Populations living in these areas, often in the Global South, are deprived of their livelihoods by desert mining Atacama, in Chile, for example."The collective also denounced how the consequences of production are also felt at a local level:«Brandenburg, already affected by drought due to the climate crisis, it is being further drained by Tesla to ensure production.Residents are already forced to ration water while the factory taps are opened to the maximum and sometimes a little paint is spilled in the water storage area.Berlin's water supply is also at a critical point due to the fossil fuel industry.Instead of thinking about how to distribute water based on people's needs, the government continues to focus on water-intensive industries."
Despite having already received the necessary authorizations, Tesla seems to have decided to do so for the moment temporarily suspend (but not cancel) its expansion plans, more out of strategic caution tied to market and sales trends rather than to ethical and environmental concerns.However, there is already an intention to submit an application for the construction of a new production site.With further, inevitable consumption of land and resources.
[by Valeria Casolaro]