A German court has dismissed the environmental complaint against Tesla regarding Gigafactory 4 (or Giga Berlin) in Germany. Tesla can now resume work preparing for construction.
The complaint came from some environmental associations, but it’s worth noting that many environmentalists supported Tesla’s work, not the opposition to it. In fact, many times more environmentalists probably opposed the objections.
Breaking News: German Court Dismisses Environmental Complaint Against Tesla Berlin Gigafactory.
–https://t.co/HqTycHm89i
–#Tesla #BerlinGigafactory #GigaBerlin @vincent13031925 @torquenewsauto @TeslaJoy @teslaownersSV @belauste @teslaownersSV @Teslaconomics @JohnnaCrider1 pic.twitter.com/tDTMc8cb9q— Torque News (@torquenewsauto) February 20, 2020
This update came to us from Torque News, which learned about the ruling from a source in Berlin who was following the gigafactory’s construction. The Berlin Higher Administrative Court (OVG) rejected the complaint of two environmental associations against the premature start of construction on Thursday. This news is on the heels of a last-minute decision of the German court to halt the clearing of the forest where Tesla is starting to build the planned factory.
The ruling that halted the work on Giga Berlin (which is located in Brandenburg) was done by the higher administrative courts of the states of Berlin and Brandenburg and prohibited Tesla from cutting down any more trees on the 277 acre site where Gigafactory 4 will be built. The reason the courts halted the progress was due to the Green League of Brandenburg’s opposition to cutting down trees for a factory, and the fact that if there wasn’t an order to pause the cutting, Tesla might cut down all the trees it was planning to cut before a decision was made on whether or not it could. As a reminder, Tesla plans to plant many more trees to make up for the loss to this area, but that was not legally relevant.
TorqueNews points out that time is of the essence, as Tesla couldn’t cut any trees between March and autumn, which is the breeding season there. This meant that Tesla would have to wait over 6 months to cut the trees if the judges hadn’t acted quickly in this decision. The judge decided that Brandenburg’s State Environment Agency has rightly granted Tesla “Approval for early start of measures.” These court documents were shared by Twitter user GF4Tesla.
#GigaBerlin
The complaint of the " environmental associations " against TESLA was dismissed ✌👊🍾
Tesla can continue working.🤩👍 pic.twitter.com/7BnoHVIGca— @GF4Tesla 🇩🇪 🏗️🏗️.build #GigaBerlin. (@Gf4Tesla) February 20, 2020
The good news is that Tesla is not back on track building its fourth gigafactory, and 3rd automotive gigafactory. Time is still of the essence, but this is Tesla we are talking about — a company that turned a muddy field into an operating gigafactory in China in less than a year.
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