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I don't think you need to have a conspiracy brain to wonder if some of this may be plausible. Musk's companies are famous for a self-described "move fast and b

by sho_hn 4y ago

I don't think you need to have a conspiracy brain to wonder if some of this may be plausible. Musk's companies are famous for a self-described "move fast and break things" strategy, and local authorities are often incentivized to let them for what their presence does for local economy, e.g. job creation, infra buildout, further growth opportunities, etc. There are precedents for this. I encourage you to read a little into the brouhaha and corruption revolving around Tesla's Gigafactory in Brandenburg, nearby Berlin. This was and is mired in environmental issues, from sapping the region of water to pollution concerns, yet Tesla at times kept building the thing in violation of having to wait for approvals, then environmental authorities were pressured and leaned on by local state gov to fast-track and grandfather approvals. The above rises above the level of cospiracy theories - there are protocols, there are government employees who went to the press to complain, there is solid investigative journalism. And yet there is a car factory. You can be on the other side of the arguments on the issues themselves perhaps (i.e. maybe your engineering/science opinion differs), or you can put humanity and economy over nature (this would be a political opinion), but rules being bent and better knowledge being ignored in favor of letting companies forge ahead at costs is a thing.

hefferbub 4y ago
Nearly all of the breathless doom mongering has been from one or two small environmental groups who opposed the plant from the start and who keep inventing objections to attempt to support their foregone conclusion. They use every possible opportunity to slow down progress irrespective of the merits of their complaints, and judges have rejected most of them. For example, water use. Tesla has built a complete onsite water reclamation plant that will allow it to build twice as many cars using the same water allocation they are already granted. Also “they are killing the forests!”. What is not said is that this so-called forest is actual one of many vast tree farms located throughout Germany which are planted with quick-growing monocultures of identical trees and harvested regularly. Tesla is planting an identical size plot of new trees elsewhere, and that effort was 62% complete as of May 2021
woleium 4y ago
Part of this is how things work in Germany though. I was asking a German friend what would happen if you drove with a suspended license in Germany, he said "But why would you drive with a suspended license?”. I said ”maybe there's an emergency, maybe you have to get to the hospital”. He replied "but you have a suspended license so you can't drive"... This went on for some time. He really couldn't wrap his head around the fact that someone with a suspended license may in fact still drive a car. I suspect that there are so few cases where folks break rules like Tesla did that the administration just doesn't really know what to do about it.
- chrisco255 4y ago
  Interesting, why did VW fraudulently misrepresent their emissions then, if Germans are so perfect: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/foreign/2018/01/23/germany-electric-cars-vw-diesel-scandal/109748194/ https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/foreign/201...
- randominsomnia 4y ago
  Germans wouldn't drive with an expired license because that'd be a felony over here.
  - code_duck 4y ago
    Plenty of people in the US drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol despite that they could face felony charges.
  - rbanffy 4y ago
    Not sure about Germany, but most legal systems have "lesser evil" provisions, so, if you drive a car with an expired license in order to save a life, that should be considered.
    - DemocracyFTW2 4y ago
      That could quickly backfire should it turn out you decided to drive someone to the hospital yourself in spite of having been found not to be trusted with steering a vehicle, and not having called professional help and first-aid on-the-spot, i.e. called the ambulance as you should have done. Assault / injury and failure to render assistance are the terms here.
throwawaylinux 4y ago
That's possible, but you'd have to see some actual evidence rather than the rantings of an unhinged conspiracy theorist like the author.

by sho_hn 4y ago

hefferbub 4y ago

Nearly all of the breathless doom mongering has been from one or two small environmental groups who opposed the plant from the start and who keep inventing objections to attempt to support their foregone conclusion. They use every possible opportunity to slow down progress irrespective of the merits of their complaints, and judges have rejected most of them. For example, water use. Tesla has built a complete onsite water reclamation plant that will allow it to build twice as many cars using the same water allocation they are already granted. Also “they are killing the forests!”. What is not said is that this so-called forest is actual one of many vast tree farms located throughout Germany which are planted with quick-growing monocultures of identical trees and harvested regularly. Tesla is planting an identical size plot of new trees elsewhere, and that effort was 62% complete as of May 2021

woleium 4y ago

Part of this is how things work in Germany though. I was asking a German friend what would happen if you drove with a suspended license in Germany, he said "But why would you drive with a suspended license?”. I said ”maybe there's an emergency, maybe you have to get to the hospital”. He replied "but you have a suspended license so you can't drive"... This went on for some time. He really couldn't wrap his head around the fact that someone with a suspended license may in fact still drive a car. I suspect that there are so few cases where folks break rules like Tesla did that the administration just doesn't really know what to do about it.

chrisco255 4y ago
Interesting, why did VW fraudulently misrepresent their emissions then, if Germans are so perfect: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/foreign/2018/01/23/germany-electric-cars-vw-diesel-scandal/109748194/ https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/foreign/201...
randominsomnia 4y ago
Germans wouldn't drive with an expired license because that'd be a felony over here.
- code_duck 4y ago
  Plenty of people in the US drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol despite that they could face felony charges.
- rbanffy 4y ago
  Not sure about Germany, but most legal systems have "lesser evil" provisions, so, if you drive a car with an expired license in order to save a life, that should be considered.
  - DemocracyFTW2 4y ago
    That could quickly backfire should it turn out you decided to drive someone to the hospital yourself in spite of having been found not to be trusted with steering a vehicle, and not having called professional help and first-aid on-the-spot, i.e. called the ambulance as you should have done. Assault / injury and failure to render assistance are the terms here.

throwawaylinux 4y ago

That's possible, but you'd have to see some actual evidence rather than the rantings of an unhinged conspiracy theorist like the author.