Climate protesters try to break into Tesla's Germany factory, multiple people arrested
Climate protesters try to break into Tesla's Germany factory, multiple people arrested
Police blocked protesters trying to get onto the Tesla grounds at its Berlin-Brandenburg factory, Brandenburg police told CNBC.
So even on Lemmy people defend Tesla because “why not protest against coal” and “but this is EV”. Sigh.
People DO protest against coal, and to a much larger extent.
Tesla is a shitty scam company which deserves nothing but bankruptcy. Their factory is destroying huge areas in Brandenburg and uses massive amounts of water in an area where there is severe drought. Brandenburg even has deserts forming for those who are unaware. Even if you would accept Tesla, the factory is placed in the worst place possible.
Apart from the environmental aspects, the company is famous for being atrocious regarding workers rights. That crypto bro scam firm should just get the hell out.
Why are the climate protesters against electric vehicles?
Climate protesters have expressed concerns about Tesla’s plans, which entail cutting down approximately 250 acres of forest in a rural community of fewer than 8,000 residents near a nature conservation area.
Should be noted that basically all of that forest is a tree farm monoculture.
Now they moved to protesting the water usage of the factory, which is high, but quite low compared to other industries and farms in the area.
I mean, fuck cars in general, but protests that focus on bullshit facts are not helping the cause.
Frack. That’s sucks
Go protest to the people who give the permit to cut down those trees, those are the problem. If tesla listen to the protest, another company is going to cut those trees.
If that area is marked as forest instead of industry/residential, no one can cut it, end of thread.
But as usual, protestors are barking up the wrong tree (pun intended)
Are these the same German protestors who advocated for shutting down nuclear power plants?
It's a battery factory that was built there despite environmental concerns.
I think the main things that attracted the ire of environmentalists are:
- When the building permits were still being negotiated, Tesla just started clearing land illegally
- A battery factory requires lots of water, this one was built in a region already low on groundwater
- There have been several instances of spilled chemicals
- The sewage coming out of the factory has been contaminated (phosphorus and nitrogen) beyond allowed thresholds for two years
- The local water supply company is reportedly near its limit, but Tesla wants to expand the battery factory and clear additional land
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But the situation is a bit muddy. Early protests around 2021..2022 often had a share of far right wingnuts trying to recruit people. That's lessened, though. This specific protest was definitely swelled in numbers by the factory expansion and land clearing plans, but is also part of a planned day of protests by the "Disrupt Tesla" group. They have a web presence here: https://disrupt-now.org/en/.
Not evs in general, just tesla.
EVs are a good next step but they still use tires that break down leaving microplastics in the environment and a study showed they may even leave more.,
It doesn't have to stay that way, and probably won't. Batteries improve by 5-8% per year. We're also reaching the point where, with better charging infrastructure, we don't particularly need longer range. Weight can go down rather than range going up.
There's no reason EVs have to be heavier than ICE cars, and they probably won't be in the next few years.
Electric cars do not address any of the main issues cars bring to our society, which are:
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Pollution -- Cars are responsible for a significant amount of global and local pollution (microplastic waste, brake dust, embodiment emissions, tailpipe emissions, and noise pollution). Electric cars eliminate tailpipe emissions, but the other pollution-related problems largely remain.
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Infrastructure (Costs. An Unsustainable Pattern of Development) -- Cars create an unwanted economic burden on their communities. The infrastructure for cars is expensive to maintain and the maintenance burden for local communities is expected to increase with the adoption of more electric and (someday) fully self-driving cars. This is partly due to the increased weight of the vehicles and also the increased traffic of autonomous vehicles.
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Infrastructure (Land Usage & Induced Demand) -- Cities allocate a vast amount of space to cars. This is space that could be used more effectively for other things such as parks, schools, businesses, homes, and so on. We miss out on these things and are forced to pile on additional sprawl when we build vast parking lots and widen roads and highways. This creates part of what is called induced demand. This effect means that the more capacity for cars we add, the more cars we'll get, and then the more capacity we'll need to add.
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Independence and Community Access -- Cars are not accessible to everyone. Simply put, many people either can't drive or don't want to drive. Car-centric city planning is an obstacle for these groups, to name a few: children and teenagers, parents who must chauffeur children to and from all forms of childhood activities, people who can't afford a car, and many other people who are unable to drive. Imagine the challenge of giving up your car in the late stages of your life. In car-centric areas, you face a great loss of independence.
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Safety -- Cars are dangerous to both occupants and non-occupants, but especially the non-occupants. As time goes on cars admittedly become better at protecting the people inside them, but they remain hazardous to the people not inside them. For people walking, riding, or otherwise trying to exercise some form of car-free liberty cars are a constant threat. In car-centric areas, streets and roads are optimized to move cars fast and efficiently rather than protect other road users and pedestrians.
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Social Isolation -- A combination of the issues above produces the additional effect of social isolation. There are fewer opportunities for serendipitous interactions with other members of the public. Although there may be many people sharing the road with you (a public space), there are some obvious limitations to the quality of interaction one can have through metal, glass, and plastic boxes.
(Batantly copypasted from the pinned thread on r/fuckcars)
Being against electric cars because they are cars is certainly a view you can take.
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Germany factory
We finally know where they make Germany.
How do you say "SCRAMBLE!" in Deursche?
Scrämble!
This is dumb. We need to build, build, build if we're going to avert catastrophe. We need to build electric vehicles, batteries, solar panels, wind mills, electric transmission lines, grid storage, synthetic fuel plants, nuclear power plants. We will fail if people wring their hands over every new construction project. That forest won't mean shit if the ocean boils.
Ah yes the mindset that got us here, lets solve the problem we got by not showing any restraint as a society, by just building even more shit we dont actually need.
Half the things in your list are completely unnecessary for avoiding climate catastrophe and only serve the purpose of further increasing our energy and industrial greed.
Just move the factory to China. 🤡
Where are these protesters against all the coal power plants in Germany? Probably enjoying the warmth of their cozy houses in winter.
There have been massive protests against coal plants and coal mines in Germany.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/14/europe/lutzerath-germany-coal-protests-climate-intl/index.html
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-thousands-protest-to-save-hambach-forest/a-46060826
Fridays For Future still exists, and they still protest against coal power, demanding earlier shutdowns. Last Generation protested against fossil fuel usage, but nobody cared because they glued themselves to roads and apparently that offended too many. And then there were some others, Extinction Rebellion,...
Just deconstruct the factory. Its not needed anywhere in the world.
Coal in germany makes up around 14% of all electricity production.
The rest is:
Solar(33%) Wind(28%) Gas(18%) Whats left is hydro and oil.