World News

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.

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.,

Electric cars do not address any of the main issues cars bring to our society, which are:

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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)

Scrämble!