Published in Transportation

Tesla told to stop cutting down trees

by on17 February 2020


You are supposed to be green

The carmaker of choice for polar-bear friendly, recyclers who knit their own yoghurt, Tesla has received a bollocking from a German court for cutting down trees.

In a move to hack off German Ents, Saruman Tesla announced plans last November to build a Isengard Gigafactory in Gruenheide in the eastern state of Brandenburg.

It got a green light to clear the land from the state environmental office even if meant axing 92 hectares of forest for the plant. So Musk set to work with his trusty tomahawk even though he had not been granted planning permission to build the plant.

In a statement, the court said it had issued the order to stop the tree-felling because it would have only taken three more days to complete the work.

Otherwise, the clearance would have been completed before judges made a final decision on the complaint brought by a local environmentalist group called the Gruene Liga Brandenburg (Green League of Brandenburg).

“It should not be assumed that the motion seeking legal protection brought by the Green League lacks any chance of succeeding”, the court statement added.

Lawmakers from the pro-business Christian Democrat and Free Democrat parties have warned that the legal battle waged against the Gigafactory would inflict serious and long-lasting damage on Germany’s image as a place to do business. Business for American companies being far more important than saving the planet.

Local and national lawmakers have been caught out by the strength of opposition to the Gigafactory, with hundreds of demonstrators protesting over what they say is the threat it poses to local wildlife and water supplies.

 

 

 

Last modified on 17 February 2020
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