German Environment and Nature Conservation Federation doesn't intend to stop cleaning Tesla site. Two other groups made urgent requests to end deforestation in the Giga Berlin.
The German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND) in Brandenburg does not intend to stop early cleaning at the Tesla site in Grünheide (Oder-Spree).
At the moment, there is neither the possibility nor the need for this, said Axel Kruschat, regional manager of BUND on Friday.
Tesla began clearing the forest on Thursday. The Department of the Environment has given permission to Tesla, but the environmental approval process is still ongoing.
The cleanup is expected to take about two weeks before the end of February, said Brandenburg deputy government spokesman Simon Zunk on Friday.
According to his own statements, the BUND is still checking documents for early approval. Kruschat expressed concern that the work would be delayed during the growing season, due to delays in the possible stop of the clearing. If Tesla can complete his work without hindrance, the cleaning can be completed before the start of the growing season.
In a statement on Thursday, the ministry clearly stated that Tesla should begin work "at your own risk." “However, the investor should have committed to restore the original condition if project approval cannot be granted.”
Other environmentalists, on the other hand, want to stop early cleanup with two urgent statements.
In the morning, requests were received from the Brandenburg Green League and the Association for Landscape Conservation and Species Protection in Bavaria (VLAB), a representative of the Frankfurt an der Oder administrative court said Friday.
In a statement, VLAB spoke of "a similar attack to clearing a forest zone important for climate and species protection." The association criticized above all the high water consumption in an already arid region.
Source: remmick
But it is worth paying special attention to the fact that this request is strange. First, Bavaria is located in the south of Germany, and Brandenburg is in the northeast, so a request from this state looks suspicious. Secondly in Bavaria is the headquarters of BMW and Audi.
Just to give anybody the correct context: Bavaria is in the south of Germany while Brandenburg is in the Northeast.
— Captain (@CaptainVoni) February 14, 2020
Due to a pure coincidence, the headquarters of BMW are located in Bavaria.
Perhaps this is a simple coincidence, or perhaps these requests are the actions of BMW and/or Audi aimed at preventing the quickest cleaning of the territory for the first phase of Gigafactory 4. As you know, if Tesla does not have time to clear the territory before the growing season, then all construction work will have to be postponed until autumn, which is essential negatively affect the plans of the American automaker.
[Update] The Brandenburg Green League and the Association for Landscape Conservation and Species Protection in Bavaria (VLAB) wanted to stop clearing the site for Giga Berlin with urgent request. But the Berlin-Brandenburg Supreme Administrative Court rejected these applications!
The Administrative Court stated on the grounds that the State Environmental Agency did not object to the consideration of environmental legislation. Therefore, the American electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla is allowed to continue clearing at the site of its planned plant in Grünheide near Berlin.
Featured image: @gigafactory_4
About the Author
Eva Fox
Eva Fox joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover breaking news as an automotive journalist. The main topics that she covers are clean energy and electric vehicles. As a journalist, Eva is specialized in Tesla and topics related to the work and development of the company.
