Block Tesla – Disrupt Elon (Berlin)

af DISRUPT

Prevent expansion of the Tesla Giga-Factory in Grünheide.

Order mobile material now:
https://disrupt-now.org/disrupt-tesla/mobimaterial/

In Grünheide near Berlin, 1 million new Teslas are expected to roll off the assembly line every year in the future and join the avalanche of metal on the highways. Through three further expansion stages, the plant on the outskirts of Berlin will become the largest car factory in Europe. We want to prevent that. There are already more than 250,000 new cars produced there every year, adding to the useless electrical and combustion waste that clogs our roads and is needed by no one in a future in which mobility belongs to everyone.

With his brand, the mysogical Twitter fascist Elon Musk has succeeded in establishing the electric car as a “green” alternative to the combustion engine. Electric cars are not a solution. They are the continuation of the individual transport craze using other means. And that is neither sustainable nor green. When producing an electric car, the consumption of resources creates an enormous ecological footprint and thus further drives the global climate catastrophe.

--- The price of neocolonial supply chains ---
The extraction of lithium – the main raw material for batteries – causes incredible destruction in mining areas. Entire areas of land and ecosystems are devastated because the water is either used for mining or is polluted and returned to the groundwater. And the people who live in areas often located in the global south are deprived of their livelihood due to mining, for example in the Atacama Desert in Chile. They must give way to the green transformation plans of the global North. And if they resist, they will respond in the old colonial style. Or in the words of Elon Musk: “We coup who we want!”

--- Water for all instead of just a few ---
And the impact of production is also noticeable locally. Brandenburg, which is already suffering from drought due to the climate crisis, is being further drained by Tesla to ensure production. Residents are already having to ration water, while the taps in the factory are turned on at full capacity and a bit of paint is often spilled in the water protection area. And Berlin's water supply is also at a tipping point because of the fossil fuel industries. Instead of thinking about how to distribute water based on people's needs, the government continues to focus on a water-intensive economy.

--- Forest instead of asphalt ---
The forest around the plant, which is criss-crossed with chessboard-like farm roads, is already having to fight for survival due to the drought. Now it will be cut down to create a huge parking lot for cars and construction equipment for the expansion. Climate-resilient forests should actually be created. Absurdly, that was exactly one of the requirements for Tesla: Tesla was supposed to ensure that mixed forests were created in the adjacent forests. However, these compensation areas with the newly planted trees are now falling victim to the clearing for the expansion. This is no surprise, as most permits were granted by ignoring standard environmental policy procedures.

--- Against the car state of Germany ---
One thing is certain: Depending on the model, electric cars are only less harmful to the climate than combustion engines after 60,000 to 110,000 kilometers. Therefore, only a massive reduction in car production is an adequate response to the challenges of the climate crisis. But a rethink towards dense, functioning public transport for everyone is unthinkable under capitalism. Too much added value for Germany as an industrial location depends on the automobile industry. If the car industry in Germany falters due to crises or new emissions standards in the EU, the German state will reliably stand by the industrialists and either invest billions in scrappage bonuses or prevent restrictions wherever possible. Work under capitalism is often organized in such a way that wage workers can hardly get by without a car to get to their workplace. And last but not least, the car is also defended as an ideological promise of freedom, with which wage workers can then drive back and forth between work and home every day, free from constraints. And that works.

--- Public instead of individual transport ---
The CDU won the elections in Berlin with, among other things, a car campaign. However, more or less all parties are arguing for keeping the car. The lack of an alternative to the car is deliberately reproduced by political actors by placing as many obstacles as possible in the way of all other means of transport. The alternative to individual local transport cannot be electric cars, but only local transport that makes mobility possible for everyone. This is exactly what we are fighting for together with local public transport employees and the We Drive Together campaign. After all, in the end it doesn't matter whether you are run over on the corner by a BMW combustion engine SUV or a Tesla Cybertruck in apocalypse mode.

--- Feminist anti-fascism instead of Elon Musk ---
Unfortunately, Elon Musk's activities are not limited to Tesla. He is also increasingly appearing as an actor in the new right. On the Twitter platform he bought, Musk spreads conspiracy theories and anti-emancipatory, racist and right-wing content. He joins the ranks of fragile men who have joined the crusade to preserve patriarchal privileges. On the subject of migration, he also disseminated statements from accounts close to the fascist AfD. This wouldn't be a big deal if he were some wretch with no reach or means. But when the richest person in the world supports movements and parties that are diametrically opposed to our idea of society, that's a problem.

--- Prevent the work, stop Musk ---
The idea of another huge car production facility in Germany is absurd in the face of the climate catastrophe. That's why we have to try together to stop this trend. To date, the climate justice movement has often focused on the expansion of roads and highways when it comes to mobility. Which is completely true. If we want to counteract the flood of sheet metal, we also have to take care of the cause of the problem, the production locations and German car capitalism.
So let's work together against the expansion of the Tesla factory before the supposed alternative of electric cars becomes a real nightmare. We want to prevent the expansion of the plant. Every tree that is cut down for Tesla is one too many and every liter of water that is taken from the ground is a waste.

Instead of continuing automotive capitalism with a green robe, we are fighting for its end!

Come to the action days from 8th to 12th. May to Berlin: Block Tesla – Disrupt Elon.
More information will follow soon – stay tuned.

Sted

Grünheide

Berlin