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Many people who buy electric vehicles do so for environmental reasons. But they might not be so thrilled about having an EV manufacturing site near their home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yesterday, Tesla<\/a> rival Rivian announced<\/a> that it\u2019s halting plans to build a $5 billion factory in Georgia. Instead, it will manufacture its upcoming R2 and R3 models at its existing plant in Illinois, allowing it to save more than $2.25 billion in capital expenditures.<\/p>\n While the politicians who lured Rivian with tax incentives might be disappointed\u2014the company pledged to create 7,500 jobs by the end of 2028\u2014some Georgia residents living near the planned facility breathed a sigh of relief, for now at least.<\/p>\n Among them was JoEllen Artz, who spoke to<\/a> the Atlanta Journal-Constitution<\/em> after Rivian\u2019s announcement. She leads a group that opposes the EV maker\u2019s plans, citing the potential impact on local water supplies. The site sits in a groundwater recharge area in which many residents rely on private wells.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur water is more important than anybody\u2019s electric vehicle,\u201d Artz told the newspaper.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to Rivian, its plan is to delay construction of the plant, not scrap it.<\/p>\n \u201cOur Georgia site remains really important to us,\u201d Rivian CEO R.J. Scaringe said yesterday. \u201cIt\u2019s core to the scaling across all these vehicles, between R2, R3, R3X.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile in Germany, Tesla\u2019s first European gigafactory recently endured sabotage from activists<\/a> who cited water supply as a top concern. Calling themselves the Volcano Group, they set a high-voltage power mast ablaze on Tuesday, knocking out power to the carmaker\u2019s plant, as well as to nearby residents.<\/p>\n Tesla said it has shuttered production until next week and would suffer nearly $1 billion in damages. CEO Elon Musk insulted the group<\/a> on X, writing: \u201cThese are either the dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth or they\u2019re puppets of those who don\u2019t have good environmental goals. Stopping production of electric vehicles, rather than fossil fuel vehicles, ist extrem dumm.\u201d (That last bit is German for \u201cextremely dumb.\u201d)<\/p>\n Last month, Stern<\/em> reported<\/a> on the Tesla plant\u2019s environmental impact. According to the German publication, a local water utility found evidence that the factory has been polluting the water supply with phosphorus and nitrogen compounds at levels up to six times the legal limit.<\/p>\n Meanwhile residents in the area voted against<\/a> an expansion of the Tesla factory. The referendum wasn\u2019t binding, but protestors have been camping in the woods to prevent clearing attempts.<\/p>\n Rivian and Tesla aren\u2019t the only companies that have encountered resistance to EV-related manufacturing projects.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Quebec, activists protested earlier this year<\/a> against a $7 billion EV-battery production plant being planned by the Swedish firm Northvolt<\/a>, founded by two former Tesla executives in 2015. Protestors dubbed the project an \u201cecocidal disgrace<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Similar protests arose<\/a> in Hungary last year against a Chinese-owned EV battery plant\u2014built by Contemporary Amperex Technology<\/a> Co. Limited (CATL)\u2014with residents worried about the potential impact on water supplies.<\/p>\n Of course, all kinds of planned or existing factories are met with protests. In France, climate activists recently stormed<\/a> a \u201cforever chemical\u201d plant outside Lyon, following mounting health concerns among nearby residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n The making of EVs and their batteries also requires large amounts of minerals. That means new or expanded mines with environmental problems of their own focused on extracting minerals such as graphite, nickel, and lithium.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe transition to low-carbon fuels is not a magic bullet with no negative outcome,\u201d Sergey Paltsev, a senior research scientist at MIT, told<\/a> the Washington Post <\/em>last September. \u201cThere is no free lunch. But it\u2019s much less harmful than if we stay with fossil fuels.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\nTesla saboteurs<\/h2>\n
\u2018Ecocidal disgrace\u2019\u00a0<\/h2>\n
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