Desperate last step to save a forest from Tesla Environment
Clash between competing viewpoints
The German Tesla factory has faced controversy since its opening in March 2022. Issues reported by the labor union, IG Metall, include safety concerns and heavy workloads for its 12,000 employees, with many saying they are treated like “robots, not humans.” “According to an investigation by Stern, a German magazine.
Then, in March 2024, Tesla’s electrical grid was sabotaged, claimed by the far-left activist group VulkanGroup, which halted production for about a week. In May, more than 800 activists staged a week-long protest near the factory, combining direct action with workshops and ecological group meetings.
As a result, the Grünheide Forest has become a flash point of broader confrontation between competing visions: one of rapid industrial expansion, driven by billionaires like Elon Musk and promises of a “global green transition”; and second, local resistance advocating socio-ecological alternatives. It is not clear where this fight will end.
However one thing is clear. The expulsion of the workers has not quelled the resistance. Just three days after the operation, opponents of Tesla’s expansion plans organized a symbolic “forest walk”, which included Carola Rackete, an activist and member of the European Parliament. He emphasized the global stakes, warning of Musk’s growing influence – especially given his role in the incoming US administration of Donald Trump.
Racket called for continued resistance to Tesla as part of a broader confrontation with global power dynamics.
The Grünheide Forest now stands as a symbol that transcends national boundaries, linking local, national and global issues in the fight against climate injustice and uncontrolled industrial expansion.
