Why This Small Town In Michigan Has Become A Political War Zone
A case study in the complexities of fighting climate change -- and difficulty of getting big things done in today's political environment
An electric vehicle (EV) factory could bring 2,350 jobs to an area that’s been bleeding money and people. But the project has provoked a fierce backlash, pitting neighbors and families against one another in what is now a bitterly divided Michigan small town.
What the heck happened?
What does that say about the fight against climate change -- and the state of American politics?
My new HuffPost article tries to answer these questions.
The factory would build components for lithium-ion batteries to power cars and trucks. It would go in a one-mile long strip of mostly undeveloped land in Green Charter Township, which is about an hour north of Grand Rapids on the western side of the state.
It first came to my attention about a year ago, when our governor, Gretchen Whitmer, hailed announcement of the initial agreement as a win for the state, because of its potential to bring jobs and help Michigan keep its place as the capital of auto manufacturing.
But she was in the middle of her reelection campaign then and her Republican opponent, Tudor Dixon, turned the announcement into an attack line, because Gotion, the company that wants to build and run the factory, has ties to China.
“Why is Gretchen backing China over her own country?” Dixon tweeted.
The attacks didn’t save Dixon’s candidacy, obviously. But they didn’t die with it, either, and since then the proposal has been the subject of big controversy, both locally and beyond.
The fight has some familiar dynamics, with a distinct MAGA v. the world vibe. (The controversy has already made headlines at Breitbart and on Fox.) But it has also scrambled political alliances, with the Gotion proposal drawing opposition from some progressive Democrats who question the generous financial incentives from the state. That's in addition to worries over whether the factory will have enough safeguards to protect local water supplies from industrial contamination.
The controversy is a case study in the complexities of trying to implement a clean energy agenda tied to manufacturing -- i.e., a key piece of “Bidenomics" -- just as we are marking the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act. I confess that, as I was reporting and writing this, I thought a lot about my experience covering implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and all of the challenges that came with it.
This is a different law, obviously, with a very different set of challenges. One of them is the tension between the need to be vigilant about how projects will affect local habitats and environments, and the need to move quickly in order to arrest climate change. Disputes like this are playing out all over the country. And speed really matters here.
Then there are the political ramifications. Trump has already used the factory — and its China ties — as a cudgel against Biden and his push for EVs. In so doing, he's picking up on (and trying to tap into) some mixed feelings about the electric vehicle transition from the UAW, which is something I covered a few weeks ago.
But there’s a broader political story here too, about American attitudes towards experts and large institutions, and towards their elected officials. Americans used to believe that government can do big things. Projects like this are a chance to show that it still can -- or to reinforce perceptions that it can't.
Here’s the article link:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ev-battery-factory-michigan-town_n_64d0fe4ae4b01638f324bb14
Thanks for reading!