Giga Grünheide - Interview with a Berlin Journalist

JDT is an investigative journalist, environmentalist and a Berlin citizen. This is her take about a village that is to become the future of electric mobility.

A car factory and then another one that is supposed to stand for nothing more than the future of mobility - that sounds like a complex mixture. So what are the big issues you would pick out as a journalist?

JDT: Let this contradiction melt in our mouth once again: here comes a US company, a pioneer in the field of electromobility, to Grünheide of all places - and I say it badly: right in the middle of nowhere. Thousands of people are supposed to work in the factory, who have to go there and come back in shifts. New roads are to be built, a railway station is to be relocated, and there is likely to be an influx of people. This is a totally crazy situation that turns everything upside down. And the residents think to themselves: "Who are these aliens?"

There is also much criticism of the Tesla location. How do you approach this?

JDT: By observing the resistance. Some citizens have organised themselves, they feel completely taken by surprise and raise big political questions that go far beyond the factory. But we also look at the consequences for the German car industry and for the regional economy. There are companies that are really afraid that Tesla will cut off the last of their skilled workers, while others see huge opportunities, especially in the influx. How did that actually work out for Tesla abroad? Here we can find that this company has a few skeletons in its closet. The impact on the environment is also a major issue. The factory is located in the middle of a water conservation area and uses as much water as a small town. So there is a lot of tension here.

What are journalistic challenges?

JDT: Difficult is getting through to a contact person, namely Tesla itself. They are is very unapproachable: difficult to reach, answers take time, etc. Only Elon Musk can actually be quoted, and for the rest there are informal references. At the same time, politicians and authorities have become rather cautious, because it has turned to a very emotionally charged topic. One does not want to say the wrong thing, here too there are many background talks, often little to quote. And then there is the growing frustration among some citizens who have the feeling that their concerns are not being taken seriously and who, as a result, are reluctant to talk to the press. It is a balancing act for as a journalist.

There are many bureaucratic processes running in the background, which are probably highly complex. Where do you start?

JDT: Yes, from environmental impact assessment and urban land use planning to development contracts, these are things that you don't necessarily have to deal with in your daily business. This is another reason why as a journalist you need to dig deeper, because not everyone has the time and nerves to read through several thousand pages of Tesla applications in the official jargon.

Who should read into this matter? For whom is it exciting? Apart from the people who live in and around Grünheide?

JDT: For everyone who is interested in electric mobility in Germany, in Tesla, in attracting major investors to rural areas, in structural change, in the economy. I think this is a very, very broad field.