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Elon Musk during a visit to Grünheide (2020): Tough dog
Photo: ODD ANDERSEN / AFP
When Elon Musk announced the construction of a Tesla plant in Grünheide in the south of Berlin on November 12, 2019, they were almost bursting with pride in the Brandenburg state government.
Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke rolled out the red carpet for the US billionaire and painted the future in rosy colors.
Just a week later, the so-called "Tesla Task Force" met under his leadership to discuss everything that would be necessary so that the region can cope with the settlement - and also how the hurdles for the electric car manufacturer in the factory building were so far could be moved out of the way as possible.
But gradually it should also dawn on the incorrigible optimists what high price the Tesla plant costs, however beneficial it may be for the economic development of the region.
This does not mean the subsidies that the carmaker is likely to receive (ranging from one to 1.4 billion euros).
Or the costs for the development of the infrastructure, such as the expansion of roads for the delivery and removal of material and the connection to local public transport.
Not to mention additional living space and capacities in daycare centers and schools for the new Tesla employees.
The financial outlay will pay off because it will provide thousands of families with a good income, the local economy new prospects and the region additional prosperity far beyond its borders.
"Stress factor Tesla"
Rather, the price is high in political terms.
Because Elon Musk does not face the State Chancellery in Potsdam as a savior, but as an iron negotiator who clears the structures in the cooperation between entrepreneurs and rulers just as consistently as the pines on the building site of his gigafactory.
The self-made multi-billionaire is the pike in the carp pond and he doesn't care about rules, least of all about conventions, he has already proven that many times.
Be it through tweets with which he influenced the price of Tesla shares, or through populist criticism of the corona-related exit restrictions imposed by the California government last April.
It was already clear in Germany that Musk reacts very sensitively to everything that he perceives as being tampered with.
For a while at the beginning of the planning and construction phase he kept his composure when it came to relocating some endangered animal species, but behind the scenes he was already showing his impatience.
This was particularly noticeable in the Brandenburg State Office for the Environment, which has an important say in the approval process for the construction of the Tesla plant.
Internal emails talked about the "stress factor Tesla".
For an approval, which then withstands legal attacks, the officials need time to examine all aspects.
And compared to other major projects, they are actually pretty quick.
When it finally came to questions about the extensive water consumption, which not only environmentalists brought up again and again, Musk dropped the mask for the first time in front of the camera of a ZDF team on the program “Frontal21”: “Basically, we are not in a very dry one Region.
Trees wouldn't grow if there wasn't water, ”Musk said in response to the reporter's question.
"I mean, we're not in the desert here."
Now the 49-year-old has spoken again.
With a letter to the Berlin Higher Administrative Court, in which he, as an “amicus curiae” - that is, as a “friend of the court” - comments on a lawsuit that Deutsche Umwelthilfe had filed in early March.
The German procedural rules do not provide for such partisanship, but that is apparently not what Musk is interested in either.
In the ten-page document, he again attacks the approval authorities, which did not recognize the urgency of structural change in the auto industry in the fight against climate change.
This deterred "necessary investments in clean energy projects and infrastructure and makes it practically impossible for Germany to achieve its climate targets."
He is referring to the Tesla plant, which, with its targeted production capacity of 500,000 electric cars, "could help prevent around 15 million tons of CO2 emissions on Europe's roads" every year.
Questionable democratic attitude of the sender
Delaying approval by just one month would "lead to over a million tonnes of additional CO2 emissions," says the letter that a little later comes up with a proposal to drastically simplify the objection procedure for environmentally friendly production facilities and involve citizens to restrict.
The criticism, however, allows more conclusions to be drawn about the sender's democratic sentiments than about the slowness of the bureaucracy.
Because unlike in Shanghai or Texas, construction projects provide for hearing and appeal rights for all those involved who could be affected by the effects.
And there is legislation that the authorities have to comply with.
This can be exhausting and time-consuming, but it prevents squire-style policies that prioritize considerations that are more focused on the interests of individuals than on an acceptable compromise for all.
And the objections certainly have weight: For example, when it comes to water consumption, which not only puts environmentalists to sleep.
According to the responsible water authority, the requirements of the factory in the first expansion stage already correspond to that of a city of 40,000.
According to the head of the authorities, André Bähler, this is a real problem for the entire supply system in the region, and one that is likely to become even greater in the coming years.
It is also important to take account of concerns about increasing traffic or rising rents.
This contrasts with Tesla's by no means unequivocal self-image of making a decisive contribution to the fight against climate change.
In any case, the ecological balance of e-mobiles is not as brilliant as the apologists for the electric motor regularly claim.
Tesla's S models, which weigh more than two tons and which need less than five seconds to sprint from zero to one hundred in the "Insane" setting, definitely not.
So you have to be clear: Musk's initiative serves neither the common good (detoxification of bureaucracy, promotion of the economy for more jobs) nor climate protection.
It primarily serves its own interests.
And he takes what politics allows him to do without false sentimentality.
The rulers must meet him - but they must pay attention to the common good themselves.