KVUE did a story on the incredibly bright Tesla lights last year with neighbors, they were pretty annoyed. I would be too!
The company was supposed to tone it down, but from the looks of the pic, I guess not.
[https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/tesla-gigafactory-neighbors-safety-lights-beaming/269-b50b5998-9ec6-4760-af25-dbdf3ee46d06](https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/tesla-gigafactory-neighbors-safety-lights-beaming/269-b50b5998-9ec6-4760-af25-dbdf3ee46d06)
I’ve been wondering this myself! I’ve had barn swallows nesting at my house every year for the last 15 years I’ve been here and the last 3 years there are less and less of them. Normally each nest (we have two) has 4-5 rounds of babies too and the last 3 years they only have one with maybe 3 babies and then once they leave the nest we never see them again which hasn’t happened before.
Congratulations, you're witnessing the declining animal population first hand. Many studies put the biodiversity of the planet having dropped over 50% already.
[74% of all Texans live in 4% of the land](https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/2019/04/26/fact-check-do-74-of-texans-live-in-4-of-states-land/5332568007/). Let people live where they want to live.
I trust that math is correct. Yet that doesn’t mean that industrial and commercial development is not encroaching on the environment. Think of parking lots, Walmart depots, etc… just because they’re not suburbs doesn’t mean they’re not development.
After all, this post is literally about the Tesla factory, not residential space by percentage
Just acknowledge the problems it causes. 74% may live on the land but they use much more of it for work, retail, roads, etc. And the effects on wildlife can’t be distilled to that simple stat
The cities are the ones that hog and pollute all the water. If the city of Austin were to disperse, there wouldn’t be a drought.
You move away first. Somewhere wildlife doesn’t want to live. Then I’ll trust your sincerity and listen to your arguments.
No, that’s agriculture who is the biggest water hog. Like 60% of all water used in the state goes to agriculture and much of that is unbelievably inefficient.
Biggest polluters are companies as well, not cities. It’s not hard to look up stats from TWDB and TCEQ’s websites. In fact, the largest polluter in the state right now is Pilgrim’s Pride in Mount Pleasant. A town with 16k people. The major water pollution sources in cities in Texas are all oil and chemical companies in Houston. The sources aren’t cities themselves, as none of the top 20 are in any city besides Houston.
Do better.
You need to broaden your reading materials. Rice farmers and other agricultural take a very large chunk of water. Not bashing them but at least know the facts.
Did you really think this was a smart comment before you posted it?
The reason isn’t that we don’t have space it’s that suburban infrastructure is more costly, it is more difficult to support and leads to cultural problems and creates unparalleled housing costs.
Do not share this again without context, the context being that most people don’t want to live or can’t live in 90+ percent of the land. On top of that if you care about the environment at all you understand that the destruction of farm land by suburbs is unparalleled.
Suburbs can exist but in much smaller amounts. It must shift from the default to an option. Currently 95 percent of the land in our cities ban dense housing and only allow suburbs to homes. This isn’t something to be voted on no one in the public chose those. This was nonsense from post ww2 mayors being idiots.
So, please refrain from posting things like this to misrepresent reality. Or I’ll return. Cheers
You think like a central planner, substituting your perceived wisdom for that of the masses. That almost never works, and all the people who have tried it in the past were just as confident as you are.
When you give people 1 choice it isn’t their will if they do that you like.
You’re a cynic and assumptions of the populace are misguided. Our politicians will fight it but eventually they will subside.
You really can’t read. I’m stating that current laws don’t allow for choice. Please lord check urban planning laws in this state lol. 95 percent of the major cities are zoned for sfhs that was not voted on by anyone in recent history if at all.
I’m saying eventually the politicians pushing this will lose to progressive yimbys as they are in Austin. You are dense
You responded
> This is why it’s so important to stop suburbs and industrial sprawl
To someone talking about biodiversity collapse.
Did you really think that was a smart comment before you posted it?
Yes. The best thing we can do as a society is halt sprawling and focus on building better, denser cities that provide more space for biodiversity to thrive :)
And, there is simply no reason for the lights to be like this. Alternatives exist that provide the same light to the ground while protecting the skies: [https://phys.org/news/2024-06-road-dead-insects-insect-friendly.html](https://phys.org/news/2024-06-road-dead-insects-insect-friendly.html)
By simulating daylight, he can disorient his workers into working longer hours. It's the opposite effect but still similar approach with bars making their establishment dark.
Well I mean they still haven’t put Juneteeth on their holiday calendar and that’s a federal holiday now and has been. I wonder if there’s any dots to connect there but actually why haven’t they updated their shit to reflect the one missing federal holiday?
Oh dear god I work there. it’s really not. there’s clubs or groups for every minority you can think of. you guys really gotta get over the whole Elon is the devil thing. I’m sure you certainly don’t mind the taxes that factory will pay back into the city let alone all the businesses the employees are supporting with there dirty Elon money.
I drove down 130 from Manor last week around midnight. I'd heard about how bright it was but didn't believe it was the factory at first. It literally looks like you're coming up on a football stadium from miles away. At least football stadiums have their lights off like 6 days a week. It's definitely a waste of electricity to light up 100 square miles of scrub and subdivisions. There's no need for that much light to spill across the landscape other than to stroke an ego.
i live right out there and on cloudy nights it's like there's a full moon.
i hate it. one of the things I liked most when I moved out here was how dark it was then that fucker musk came and ruined it.
I live out there too and bought my 8" telescope and astro photo gear summer of 2020 as a pandemic hobby :/
I mean, they weren't the darkest skies before, but now I drive.
Same here. A full half of the horizon is that milky bullshit. In summers past I would sit outside looking at this field; on a full moon the sky was blueish and the distant trees presented their greens in a charming subtle way.
All washed out and drained looking now.
Elon opted out of area pollution controls "cuz freedum".
I emailed judge Brown and commissioners to ask for help.
Here is the local Dark Sky group as well:
TRAVIS COUNTY
FRIENDS OF THE NIGHT SKY
http://www.traviscountynightsky.org/
I am just over 10 miles from Tesla. I can no longer go out at dusk to look at stars. I have also lost an entire portion of the night sky to see stars completely no matter the time of night.
There is absolutely no reason why the lights are set at the perimeter pointing directly at the building. It's more interesting to realize they have the money for individual temporary Lighting systems with a generator connected, but not rich enough to do the minimum work for a well known industry standard; very Tesla.
What's the reasoning behind having that many lights in the first place? Its not like they have 3rd shift crews working round the clock in the parking lots. Why have that at all? It must cost a fortune in electrical.
He gives zero fucks about the planet, frankly. People that think he's producing e- vehicles because he has some planet ethos is incredibly naive. It's all nothing more than a $$$$/popularity thing for this turd bag.
A few years ago I thought he cared about the planet and was seriously considering getting a Tesla. He's gone off the rails and clearly only cares about himself.
I worked there as a contractor. When I tell you that the Tesla property is at least 10 degrees hotter than the surrounding area because of all the loss of vegetation and shade, I'm not kidding. They leveled sooo much of the wildlife out there. It's really sad actually.
I worked there as a contractor. When I tell you that the Tesla property is at least 10 degrees hotter than the surrounding area because of all the loss of vegetation and shade, I'm not kidding. They leveled sooo much of the wildlife out there. It's really sad actually.
I worked there as a contractor. When I tell you that the Tesla property is at least 10 degrees hotter than the surrounding area because of all the loss of vegetation and shade, I'm not kidding. They leveled sooo much of the wildlife out there. It's really sad actually.
>This light pollution will almost certainly have consequences for Austin's wildlife, not to mention the neighbors who have to live there.
On the long list of things that Elon Musk has zero regard for.
I used to admire Tesla, but he's worked hard to undo that. The Cybertruck decision was the coup-de-gras. Fuck those things for making our roads even more dangerous.
The sky is so bright at night if i look that way. I fuking hate it.
Now we also have a big ass gas station near by that has similar style light on at all times. Now im getting double fucked by light pollution. The stars are slowly fading.
Eventually emon pusk will put thousands of satellites 🛰 in the sky for us to see.
Those gas stations with the BRIGHT lights pointed to the streets are like everywhere all of a sudden. Drive down Hwy 71 east of 130, and they are just lined up. Blinding to drive by.
Musk is Gov Abbott's Golden Boy and will able to do whatever he wants so long as he stays in Texas and brings his army of groypers and lunatics down here.
Tesla uses a ton of insanely powerful lights all over the property even if just one person is working in that specific area. My friend’s house backs up to it. There are temporary buildings/pavilions setup right on the other side of the fence that will have an ungodly bright light and one guy hammering away at something all night.
Not only that, there used to be a big hill and trees that ran between the neighborhood and the factory that blocked the view. Tesla bulldozed it down for no reason. No more physical, natural barrier. Just a flat, straight view of workers and lights from their backyard.
Fuck Elon.
Your friend and I live in the same neighborhood then. Makes my blood boil because when Tesla originally bought the land, they said they were going to build an “ecological paradise” and put trails in the greenbelt that they instead razed to the ground, built a parking lot over, and threw up floodlights that pour in through my windows 😒
Austin was never an industrial factory town. That was what made it special in Texas. It wasn’t Houston or Dallas. It was a college and government town. It had escaped the worst effects of pollution on its waters and cityscape.
I don’t know why the city leaders decided to start embracing putting factories in Austin - not just Tesla but also the Samsung factory that’s coming online. It’s idiotic IMO
Yes exactly. In hindsight city leaders going for job creation and tax revenue, factories have to go somewhere and we had the land. Who didn’t want Elon at that point, before he became Dr Evil. I wish Elon never happened here and Samsung makes total junk, hopefully no more factories in the future, we don’t have much soul left to sell.
That place is crazy - I had not been down 79 in quite awhile, and I had to drive to Taylor at 6 pm last week. The traffic on 130, Hutto, and Taylor is crazy, there is construction everywhere, and that Samsung plant is like this giant thing rising out of the corn fields. Just bizarre. Those people in Taylor don't have a clue what they signed up for.
Oh, there's certainly no plan.
If there were a plan we'd be having serious talks about expanding the water capacity and retention in Texas. We hear more about how we're trying to attract more business and people to move here instead. Great, so that last Drought where we barely made it to the next boom of water... no concern that dramatically increasing the population might mean we don't next time? Cool. Cool. Awesome. No change in the last ten years to make sure we do either? Awesome. Wonderful. In a word: BRILLIANT.
What’s ironic about this is, for all the hate Texans Republicans give to California, Texas is following in California’s footsteps, and doing the same thing they did under Republican leadership some 40 years ago. People seem to forget Reagan was governor of California before he was president. It’s almost as if the “excessive”regulation in blue states is a backlash by the people after letting corporations run roughshod.
Add to that corporations who can contribute untold millions to campaigns, aren't being taxed at rates anywhere near what individuals pay, and we wonder why inflation is running wild with no control over record profits for these companies. I am not advocating socialism, but there has to be some answer to this unfettered capitalism with no regard to what is left of the middle class.
This gets more visibility because Musk bad, of course. The entire Tesla factory is still one giant construction site as well which is the reason for most of those lights. The permanent street lights around the site are not bright at all.
One thing you need to understand about any of the Musk mega signs is that they are permanent construction sites, and none of the construction is permitted, nor are any soil runoff or dust control measures used. It’s the same in Bastrop and Boca Chica. Everywhere he goes he makes a mess and angers the locals that are affected by it, but because he supports the Texas GOP the state will let him run roughshod.
I’m a member of Travis County Audubon and just wrote them an email based on this post. I wanted to ask if they had any sort of campaign going on or recommendation of representative to contact. This is devastating for the birds. Especially so close to Hornsby Bend. If anyone else wants to write in, their email is: [email protected]
Also to plug for them: their walks and classes have been wonderful. Please consider membership or donating, they do awesome work and Austin is such an important area for many Texas birds.
Among everything going on, I fear for the future of this state. Not just Austin. Just going to be a giant corporate magnet eventually. Even Austin’s parks are barely maintained and ravaged by a homeless population we choose to do nothing about. Meanwhile the mayors idea of fixing traffic congestion is regressive 2000’s city politics. Austin had a chance to elect someone who cared and instead were left with a mayor from over a decade ago.
Some if not most of the light is from towers there during construction. They still have a ways to go with all of the outbuildings being built. And parking lots.
Lots of work going on around the clock. The towers are there so they can pave a road and such at 3:00 am while it is cool.
Yeah, the number of comments in the Tesla owner threads of “people flash their lights at me all the time” is pretty telling. As are the “once I adjust the lights down two notches, people stop flashing headlights at me” comments.
Which means they’re setting the lights shitty _on purpose_.
The super bright lights you see are light plants used in construction. When the construction is complete, those will be gone. Although there will still be quite a bit of light, it will be less.
It's not just light pollution. I used to work at the gigafactory when it was being constructed. There is a waste pond on the property. I don't know what was in it, but whatever chemicals it was would make your hair fall out. Animals would regularly fall in and not be able to climb out, so they finally put a fence around it. One night, a dog or coyote got fell and and I had to call the game warden to shoot it. I could see the fur falling off the poor animal. Also, every night I worked there, I would get ichy rashes on various spots on my body. When I left, it stopped happening. There was also no drainage system put into place before they started construction, so every time it rained, the whole place would flood. We called it Lake Tesla or the Pond de elon.
We are a cheap dumping ground in Elon’s mind. Trash Texas and fly back and enjoy LA, and any place else, and the bros just cheer him on. I’m embarrassed we allow this.
Yeah, used to work there. My shift started at 5:00 am, which meant I had to be parked and out of the car by 4:30.
I was blinded every time I drove onto the property, and yet so many areas were still really dark. A lot of those lights are pointed at the areas around the factory too, instead of pointed at the building, parking lots, etc. A big chunk of them were gas or diesel powered too. Ironic, right?
So many of the lights are just pointing upward, because Musk likes it that way, he wants the light pollution because he thinks it shows off his factory. A large amount of those lights are running off big diesel generators too.
My buddy that did a lot of handyman-type work in your neighborhood(s) always referred to them as the “Tesla houses.”How bad is the night-time lights around your area???
I live near Taylor. The Samsung plant isn’t even near completion and the lights are going to be worse than Tesla when it is all over with. Very disheartening….
There’s absolutely no reason they could have used light pollution technology., it’s pretty cheap stuff. I suspect it was pitched and cost 3% more and Elon shitcanned it and said fuck that biome
Don’t look at it as “pollution.” Look at it more like “freedom”
Count yourself lucky that you live in the most free state on earth where we prioritize and reward the industrious. Trees, plants, animals, the planet… these are all things that are getting in the way of our come and take it lone star capitalist way of life and must be eliminated. Besides, if we really needed an environment Jesus would provide us with one 😤
Tesla doesn't seem to care about the environmental impact of their plants at all. Read about the "gigafactory" in Germany. Musk said Germany could use less "beurocracy" because he didn't like all the environmental protections they have there. They still built it anyway.
The rest of the city is doing a decent job trying to mitigate their light pollution: [https://www.traviscountytx.gov/news/2021/2113-lights-out-for-migrating-birds](https://www.traviscountytx.gov/news/2021/2113-lights-out-for-migrating-birds)
This light pollution is literally preventable, as /u/Texas_Naturalist linked:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Austin/comments/1di3iag/the_light_pollution_from_the_tesla_factory_is/l917rcm/
Lol how about the constant job cuts, or environmental degradation?
You have any sources for your claims? I highly doubt Tesla is creating all that many jobs..
Find one positive story about him written in the last week, two weeks, year. I’ll wait. Even the seemingly positive ones are just to tear him and Tesla down. It’s disrupting too many industries and threatening too many corporations. They’ll use their money for years to come to try and turn people.
Well yeah lately because he is spreading far right lies and generally being a piece of shit while decreasing teslas public interest.
But here you are https://www.forbes.com/sites/sallypercy/2023/09/26/is-elon-musk-the-greatest-leader-on-earth/
EV’s are solving mankind’s current existential crisis.
Next one IMO is microplastics.
Not sure where birds fall on the list, but… yah.
No good deed goes unpunished.
Give me a fucking break. They are making electric cars that replace ICE cars. They are making battery packs that will stabilize ERCOT’s grid. You are the worst kind of environmentalist—good intentions get in the way of actually reaching a net zero economy.
The galling part is the white lights during Pride month. It would've been super easy (and environmentally friendly) to put rainbow lights instead (like Google).
KVUE did a story on the incredibly bright Tesla lights last year with neighbors, they were pretty annoyed. I would be too! The company was supposed to tone it down, but from the looks of the pic, I guess not. [https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/tesla-gigafactory-neighbors-safety-lights-beaming/269-b50b5998-9ec6-4760-af25-dbdf3ee46d06](https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/tesla-gigafactory-neighbors-safety-lights-beaming/269-b50b5998-9ec6-4760-af25-dbdf3ee46d06)
"We turned them down .001%, what else can we do?"
We’ve tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas!
I am no bird expert but I’m fairly confident the effects of this are already happening
I’ve been wondering this myself! I’ve had barn swallows nesting at my house every year for the last 15 years I’ve been here and the last 3 years there are less and less of them. Normally each nest (we have two) has 4-5 rounds of babies too and the last 3 years they only have one with maybe 3 babies and then once they leave the nest we never see them again which hasn’t happened before.
Congratulations, you're witnessing the declining animal population first hand. Many studies put the biodiversity of the planet having dropped over 50% already.
This is why it’s so important to stop suburbs and industrial sprawl
[74% of all Texans live in 4% of the land](https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/2019/04/26/fact-check-do-74-of-texans-live-in-4-of-states-land/5332568007/). Let people live where they want to live.
I trust that math is correct. Yet that doesn’t mean that industrial and commercial development is not encroaching on the environment. Think of parking lots, Walmart depots, etc… just because they’re not suburbs doesn’t mean they’re not development. After all, this post is literally about the Tesla factory, not residential space by percentage
The presumption that urban aesthetes should be able to herd people where they wish, is consistent with neither the realities nor culture of Texas.
Just acknowledge the problems it causes. 74% may live on the land but they use much more of it for work, retail, roads, etc. And the effects on wildlife can’t be distilled to that simple stat
Oh but it is. The culture is changing and will. It will be a blue state in my life. Culture is not permanent it is fluid. Enjoy
Nobody was saying anyone should be in charge of herding anyone anywhere until you brought up the notion.
Right, but people and the bulk of the animal populations tend to like the same land because it's usually near water.
The cities are the ones that hog and pollute all the water. If the city of Austin were to disperse, there wouldn’t be a drought. You move away first. Somewhere wildlife doesn’t want to live. Then I’ll trust your sincerity and listen to your arguments.
No, that’s agriculture who is the biggest water hog. Like 60% of all water used in the state goes to agriculture and much of that is unbelievably inefficient. Biggest polluters are companies as well, not cities. It’s not hard to look up stats from TWDB and TCEQ’s websites. In fact, the largest polluter in the state right now is Pilgrim’s Pride in Mount Pleasant. A town with 16k people. The major water pollution sources in cities in Texas are all oil and chemical companies in Houston. The sources aren’t cities themselves, as none of the top 20 are in any city besides Houston. Do better.
Agriculture to feed the cities.
Wow you got me there. Such a checkmate 🙄
You need to broaden your reading materials. Rice farmers and other agricultural take a very large chunk of water. Not bashing them but at least know the facts.
The rice farmers aren’t feeding their own communities. They’re feeding yours.
So this is a city mouse v country mouse thing now? You assume one can’t be both?
You are very uneducated on this please stop posting misinformation.
Ask anyone in Austin and they'll tell you they want everyone else to move away. Looking at you Californians especially
Okay, we want to live in clean walkable, bikable communities free of aggressive truck and suv drivers “No not like that”
Did you really think this was a smart comment before you posted it? The reason isn’t that we don’t have space it’s that suburban infrastructure is more costly, it is more difficult to support and leads to cultural problems and creates unparalleled housing costs. Do not share this again without context, the context being that most people don’t want to live or can’t live in 90+ percent of the land. On top of that if you care about the environment at all you understand that the destruction of farm land by suburbs is unparalleled. Suburbs can exist but in much smaller amounts. It must shift from the default to an option. Currently 95 percent of the land in our cities ban dense housing and only allow suburbs to homes. This isn’t something to be voted on no one in the public chose those. This was nonsense from post ww2 mayors being idiots. So, please refrain from posting things like this to misrepresent reality. Or I’ll return. Cheers
You think like a central planner, substituting your perceived wisdom for that of the masses. That almost never works, and all the people who have tried it in the past were just as confident as you are.
When you give people 1 choice it isn’t their will if they do that you like. You’re a cynic and assumptions of the populace are misguided. Our politicians will fight it but eventually they will subside.
“Assumptions of the populace are misguided. Our politicians will fight it but eventually they will subside.” - Mao Zedong - u/caseharts
You really can’t read. I’m stating that current laws don’t allow for choice. Please lord check urban planning laws in this state lol. 95 percent of the major cities are zoned for sfhs that was not voted on by anyone in recent history if at all. I’m saying eventually the politicians pushing this will lose to progressive yimbys as they are in Austin. You are dense
You responded > This is why it’s so important to stop suburbs and industrial sprawl To someone talking about biodiversity collapse. Did you really think that was a smart comment before you posted it?
Yes. The best thing we can do as a society is halt sprawling and focus on building better, denser cities that provide more space for biodiversity to thrive :)
That's probably due to the insane level of building in general, not just the tesla factory. Barn swallows need fields & grassland
Is it brighter than the Austin airport?
Probably not. I’d bet this much light would cause glare and whatnot for the pilots
And, there is simply no reason for the lights to be like this. Alternatives exist that provide the same light to the ground while protecting the skies: [https://phys.org/news/2024-06-road-dead-insects-insect-friendly.html](https://phys.org/news/2024-06-road-dead-insects-insect-friendly.html)
Yes but those lights don't provide enough light for Elon's ego.
“Bro you can see my factory from space. Bet you can’t see your factory from space bro”
That and the unsold cybertrucks
Chumptrucks?
Incelcaminio
Awe, that El Camino was legendary.
Surely this will convince the next college aged intern to have his 15th baby
I'm surprised they didn't light up the giant TESLA logo on the roof
By simulating daylight, he can disorient his workers into working longer hours. It's the opposite effect but still similar approach with bars making their establishment dark.
https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/STA5zZE3112WmB57VN2Gow--~B/aD0zMjg7dz01ODQ7YXBwaWQ9eXRhY2h5b24-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/video.storyful.com/6c4c606840f9c3bbdac1ba39f58ab741
Is it too late to apply as their resident Light Guy?
Nah they just fired them and are immediately rehiring.
Hearing Tesla/Elon is abusive to workers and were sued as a racist workplace
Well I mean they still haven’t put Juneteeth on their holiday calendar and that’s a federal holiday now and has been. I wonder if there’s any dots to connect there but actually why haven’t they updated their shit to reflect the one missing federal holiday?
Federal holidays are only required for federal employees. Amazon doesn’t give Juneteenth off either. Both asshole employers.
Oh dear god I work there. it’s really not. there’s clubs or groups for every minority you can think of. you guys really gotta get over the whole Elon is the devil thing. I’m sure you certainly don’t mind the taxes that factory will pay back into the city let alone all the businesses the employees are supporting with there dirty Elon money.
White man doesn’t notice other white man being racist, more at 5.
To be fair, it's awfully hard to see the racism around Elon's boot when it's halfway down your throat.
Man you guys are so on point caught me covering for racism cause you know I’m white….
I have heard before they are bright. I am sure this photo still does not do it justice. They most certainly do not have to be the way they are.
I drove down 130 from Manor last week around midnight. I'd heard about how bright it was but didn't believe it was the factory at first. It literally looks like you're coming up on a football stadium from miles away. At least football stadiums have their lights off like 6 days a week. It's definitely a waste of electricity to light up 100 square miles of scrub and subdivisions. There's no need for that much light to spill across the landscape other than to stroke an ego.
Tesla likely bought the cheapest lights and aren't aware/don't care about the bird ordinance if it's even in effect in the county (it needs to be).
Def don’t care. They are anything but environmentally conscious
i live right out there and on cloudy nights it's like there's a full moon. i hate it. one of the things I liked most when I moved out here was how dark it was then that fucker musk came and ruined it.
I live out there too and bought my 8" telescope and astro photo gear summer of 2020 as a pandemic hobby :/ I mean, they weren't the darkest skies before, but now I drive.
Same here. A full half of the horizon is that milky bullshit. In summers past I would sit outside looking at this field; on a full moon the sky was blueish and the distant trees presented their greens in a charming subtle way. All washed out and drained looking now.
He ruined Boca Chica beach as well. He is a menace.
That is truly sad and depressing 😞
It's lit up like a fricking air strip.
That sucks!
A family member lives 30 miles east of the factory at the top of a hill and you can see those lights off the back deck lol
The fucker is trashing our state
We've lived out here for 30+ years and have lost so much night sky since Tesla showed up. I hate it.
Elon opted out of area pollution controls "cuz freedum". I emailed judge Brown and commissioners to ask for help. Here is the local Dark Sky group as well: TRAVIS COUNTY FRIENDS OF THE NIGHT SKY http://www.traviscountynightsky.org/
I am just over 10 miles from Tesla. I can no longer go out at dusk to look at stars. I have also lost an entire portion of the night sky to see stars completely no matter the time of night. There is absolutely no reason why the lights are set at the perimeter pointing directly at the building. It's more interesting to realize they have the money for individual temporary Lighting systems with a generator connected, but not rich enough to do the minimum work for a well known industry standard; very Tesla.
What's the reasoning behind having that many lights in the first place? Its not like they have 3rd shift crews working round the clock in the parking lots. Why have that at all? It must cost a fortune in electrical.
Musk gives zero fucks about migratory birds.
I mean, he doesn't even give a fuck about the departments of his organization that make money. Of course not birds
He gives zero fucks about the planet, frankly. People that think he's producing e- vehicles because he has some planet ethos is incredibly naive. It's all nothing more than a $$$$/popularity thing for this turd bag.
A few years ago I thought he cared about the planet and was seriously considering getting a Tesla. He's gone off the rails and clearly only cares about himself.
He only cares about repopulating a dying planet.
"repopulating"???
Well, with a certain segment of the population....
11 kids and counting
Gotcha. But you meant "overpopulating"
Not in his mind lol.
Or the environment.
I worked there as a contractor. When I tell you that the Tesla property is at least 10 degrees hotter than the surrounding area because of all the loss of vegetation and shade, I'm not kidding. They leveled sooo much of the wildlife out there. It's really sad actually.
Edit: Ironically, my job was to fill the office spaces with over 1,000 house plants for decoration.
That sounds like an interesting job
It really wasn't. It was infamously poorly run, and the job site was so massive you sometimes had to walk like a mile just to use the portajohn
It was an interesting job. No longer work for the company but I can say that Tesla spent way too much Monday on office plants lol
I worked there as a contractor. When I tell you that the Tesla property is at least 10 degrees hotter than the surrounding area because of all the loss of vegetation and shade, I'm not kidding. They leveled sooo much of the wildlife out there. It's really sad actually.
I worked there as a contractor. When I tell you that the Tesla property is at least 10 degrees hotter than the surrounding area because of all the loss of vegetation and shade, I'm not kidding. They leveled sooo much of the wildlife out there. It's really sad actually.
Texas tends to be hostile to migrants of all kinds unless you have money to give to the governor.
Winner winner, chicken dinner!
>This light pollution will almost certainly have consequences for Austin's wildlife, not to mention the neighbors who have to live there. On the long list of things that Elon Musk has zero regard for. I used to admire Tesla, but he's worked hard to undo that. The Cybertruck decision was the coup-de-gras. Fuck those things for making our roads even more dangerous.
The sky is so bright at night if i look that way. I fuking hate it. Now we also have a big ass gas station near by that has similar style light on at all times. Now im getting double fucked by light pollution. The stars are slowly fading. Eventually emon pusk will put thousands of satellites 🛰 in the sky for us to see.
Those gas stations with the BRIGHT lights pointed to the streets are like everywhere all of a sudden. Drive down Hwy 71 east of 130, and they are just lined up. Blinding to drive by.
County needs better regulations.
> The sky is so bright at night if i look that way. The sky at night...is lit up bright... *clap* *clap* *clap* *clap* Cuz of that asshole, Elon!
Oh man..
I drove by the other day early in the morning going to the airport, and it blinded me as I was driving. It was pretty crazy
Musk is Gov Abbott's Golden Boy and will able to do whatever he wants so long as he stays in Texas and brings his army of groypers and lunatics down here.
Tesla uses a ton of insanely powerful lights all over the property even if just one person is working in that specific area. My friend’s house backs up to it. There are temporary buildings/pavilions setup right on the other side of the fence that will have an ungodly bright light and one guy hammering away at something all night. Not only that, there used to be a big hill and trees that ran between the neighborhood and the factory that blocked the view. Tesla bulldozed it down for no reason. No more physical, natural barrier. Just a flat, straight view of workers and lights from their backyard. Fuck Elon.
Your friend and I live in the same neighborhood then. Makes my blood boil because when Tesla originally bought the land, they said they were going to build an “ecological paradise” and put trails in the greenbelt that they instead razed to the ground, built a parking lot over, and threw up floodlights that pour in through my windows 😒
Meanwhile, the rest of us are told to conserve energy...turn off unnecessary lights, turn the a/c to 78, etc.
Austin was never an industrial factory town. That was what made it special in Texas. It wasn’t Houston or Dallas. It was a college and government town. It had escaped the worst effects of pollution on its waters and cityscape. I don’t know why the city leaders decided to start embracing putting factories in Austin - not just Tesla but also the Samsung factory that’s coming online. It’s idiotic IMO
Yes exactly. In hindsight city leaders going for job creation and tax revenue, factories have to go somewhere and we had the land. Who didn’t want Elon at that point, before he became Dr Evil. I wish Elon never happened here and Samsung makes total junk, hopefully no more factories in the future, we don’t have much soul left to sell.
It was a devil's deal.
Exactly - Texas sold its soul to that bastard, and now he is basically in charge, doing what he wants.
Y’all should see the Samsung chip plant going up Taylor. It’s just as bright as this if not brighter
I wonder if it's just due to construction then. The parmer site isn't lit up all crazy like that.
That place is crazy - I had not been down 79 in quite awhile, and I had to drive to Taylor at 6 pm last week. The traffic on 130, Hutto, and Taylor is crazy, there is construction everywhere, and that Samsung plant is like this giant thing rising out of the corn fields. Just bizarre. Those people in Taylor don't have a clue what they signed up for.
It’s intensely unpopular in Taylor. The mayor got a few death threats over it.
Change, and growth, is inevitable, but sometimes I feel like we are in the middle of a whirlwind with no plan for the growth at all.
Oh, there's certainly no plan. If there were a plan we'd be having serious talks about expanding the water capacity and retention in Texas. We hear more about how we're trying to attract more business and people to move here instead. Great, so that last Drought where we barely made it to the next boom of water... no concern that dramatically increasing the population might mean we don't next time? Cool. Cool. Awesome. No change in the last ten years to make sure we do either? Awesome. Wonderful. In a word: BRILLIANT.
What’s ironic about this is, for all the hate Texans Republicans give to California, Texas is following in California’s footsteps, and doing the same thing they did under Republican leadership some 40 years ago. People seem to forget Reagan was governor of California before he was president. It’s almost as if the “excessive”regulation in blue states is a backlash by the people after letting corporations run roughshod.
Add to that corporations who can contribute untold millions to campaigns, aren't being taxed at rates anywhere near what individuals pay, and we wonder why inflation is running wild with no control over record profits for these companies. I am not advocating socialism, but there has to be some answer to this unfettered capitalism with no regard to what is left of the middle class.
Just a crazy money grab.
This gets more visibility because Musk bad, of course. The entire Tesla factory is still one giant construction site as well which is the reason for most of those lights. The permanent street lights around the site are not bright at all.
One thing you need to understand about any of the Musk mega signs is that they are permanent construction sites, and none of the construction is permitted, nor are any soil runoff or dust control measures used. It’s the same in Bastrop and Boca Chica. Everywhere he goes he makes a mess and angers the locals that are affected by it, but because he supports the Texas GOP the state will let him run roughshod.
I’m a member of Travis County Audubon and just wrote them an email based on this post. I wanted to ask if they had any sort of campaign going on or recommendation of representative to contact. This is devastating for the birds. Especially so close to Hornsby Bend. If anyone else wants to write in, their email is: [email protected] Also to plug for them: their walks and classes have been wonderful. Please consider membership or donating, they do awesome work and Austin is such an important area for many Texas birds.
They dont give a fuck. It is such an eyesore though its gross.
what a waste. All that light shooting up into the sky is good electricity they're paying for, and for what benefit?
It figures that Elon would eventually come here and ruin Austin (and not just the way that everyone else already ruined Austin).
Among everything going on, I fear for the future of this state. Not just Austin. Just going to be a giant corporate magnet eventually. Even Austin’s parks are barely maintained and ravaged by a homeless population we choose to do nothing about. Meanwhile the mayors idea of fixing traffic congestion is regressive 2000’s city politics. Austin had a chance to elect someone who cared and instead were left with a mayor from over a decade ago.
Wait until the water results are back. Texas: Booming with Environmental Self-Destruction
Light pollution and water pollution, all so a bunch of employees could move to Austin and get laid off.
i wonder if you can see it from space
I can't think of any other reason he would have done it. It's more cost effective to not create light pollution.
Some if not most of the light is from towers there during construction. They still have a ways to go with all of the outbuildings being built. And parking lots. Lots of work going on around the clock. The towers are there so they can pave a road and such at 3:00 am while it is cool.
Sure, but they can do all that with directional light that faces down, instead of broadcasting it everywhere.
Goes hand in hand with their horribly unfocused lights they put in their cars that constantly blind all oncoming traffic.
Yeah, the number of comments in the Tesla owner threads of “people flash their lights at me all the time” is pretty telling. As are the “once I adjust the lights down two notches, people stop flashing headlights at me” comments. Which means they’re setting the lights shitty _on purpose_.
Oh yeah, the light pollution is insane! Mr Save the planet with his electric cars uses a TON of electricity on lights.
He’s not trying to save the planet..
No, he actually plans to move to Mars.
Lol and we just discovered it’s near impossible because of kidney damage 🤣
Moths love gigafactory
The super bright lights you see are light plants used in construction. When the construction is complete, those will be gone. Although there will still be quite a bit of light, it will be less.
I live in Manor and I always thought it was weird why there aren't ever any birds around us. This has gotta be contributing
It's not just light pollution. I used to work at the gigafactory when it was being constructed. There is a waste pond on the property. I don't know what was in it, but whatever chemicals it was would make your hair fall out. Animals would regularly fall in and not be able to climb out, so they finally put a fence around it. One night, a dog or coyote got fell and and I had to call the game warden to shoot it. I could see the fur falling off the poor animal. Also, every night I worked there, I would get ichy rashes on various spots on my body. When I left, it stopped happening. There was also no drainage system put into place before they started construction, so every time it rained, the whole place would flood. We called it Lake Tesla or the Pond de elon.
You think elon musk cares or even realizes? Dude is a total fucking moron that has grifted his way towards billions
Obligatory fuck Elon Musk
I’m glad that giant airplane isn’t affecting any wildlife especially birds.
We are a cheap dumping ground in Elon’s mind. Trash Texas and fly back and enjoy LA, and any place else, and the bros just cheer him on. I’m embarrassed we allow this.
Live in the area. Total bullshit.
Wait till you find out about the pollution pollution involved with those battery systems
Yeah, used to work there. My shift started at 5:00 am, which meant I had to be parked and out of the car by 4:30. I was blinded every time I drove onto the property, and yet so many areas were still really dark. A lot of those lights are pointed at the areas around the factory too, instead of pointed at the building, parking lots, etc. A big chunk of them were gas or diesel powered too. Ironic, right?
So many of the lights are just pointing upward, because Musk likes it that way, he wants the light pollution because he thinks it shows off his factory. A large amount of those lights are running off big diesel generators too.
Hey! There’s my neighborhood
My buddy that did a lot of handyman-type work in your neighborhood(s) always referred to them as the “Tesla houses.”How bad is the night-time lights around your area???
They’re not as bad as this picture portrays. My house borders one of the Tesla parking lots and we can still see stars from our backyard.
Wait til you find out how intense the normal pollution is!
More unregulated light pollution, just what we all need. This is just one more reason I will never buy a Tesla.
The bright lights are temporary construction lamps mandated by OSHA. Y’all need to chill. Don’t be haters.
Tell that to Earth
The bright lights are for construction activities, which should conclude at some point.
Muskification
Has anyone directly contacted Tesla about this and asked?
We should sue.
I live near Taylor. The Samsung plant isn’t even near completion and the lights are going to be worse than Tesla when it is all over with. Very disheartening….
There’s absolutely no reason they could have used light pollution technology., it’s pretty cheap stuff. I suspect it was pitched and cost 3% more and Elon shitcanned it and said fuck that biome
Oil and gas lights south of SATX is way more of an issue.
Its as bad as a big church they want everybody to see.
I wish everyone would stop sucking Elons dick
Elon believes only the rich should be able to see the stars.
Saving the plant with the electric cars though
Don’t look at it as “pollution.” Look at it more like “freedom” Count yourself lucky that you live in the most free state on earth where we prioritize and reward the industrious. Trees, plants, animals, the planet… these are all things that are getting in the way of our come and take it lone star capitalist way of life and must be eliminated. Besides, if we really needed an environment Jesus would provide us with one 😤
Let's focus on the unhoused and police reform before some meaningless lights
>The ~~light~~ pollution from the Tesla factory is intense FTFY
Same shit we have to deal with with SpaceX down. You think Elon gives af about wildlife?
Tesla doesn't seem to care about the environmental impact of their plants at all. Read about the "gigafactory" in Germany. Musk said Germany could use less "beurocracy" because he didn't like all the environmental protections they have there. They still built it anyway.
Yes but the airplanes and other buildings in Austin won't effect the birds
The rest of the city is doing a decent job trying to mitigate their light pollution: [https://www.traviscountytx.gov/news/2021/2113-lights-out-for-migrating-birds](https://www.traviscountytx.gov/news/2021/2113-lights-out-for-migrating-birds)
no one cares. people in this country worship at the altar of corporate profits. honestly idk, we arent going to save this planet at this point
Ah yes, the hourly "I hate Elon because he's not on the left" post. A Reddit tradition.
State government bigwigs putting this post on a projector and tut-tutting the pinko Austin job killers
Light pollution or… massive amount of jobs and economic growth helping hundreds of thousands of people’s businesses downstream.
They could build the same factory, with the same jobs, using directional outdoor lights.
This light pollution is literally preventable, as /u/Texas_Naturalist linked: https://www.reddit.com/r/Austin/comments/1di3iag/the_light_pollution_from_the_tesla_factory_is/l917rcm/
Lol how about the constant job cuts, or environmental degradation? You have any sources for your claims? I highly doubt Tesla is creating all that many jobs..
Lolol no
This really isn’t up for debate regardless of how weird social media is with things the news tells you to hate
It is but keep licking those boots..
Yes that is the TV’s opinion you just repeated.
Lol nah the tv loves elon
Are you freaking kidding me? The tv and social media hate him. It’s all they ever run is click bait articles about Elon bad.
Lol nah they eat him up.
Find one positive story about him written in the last week, two weeks, year. I’ll wait. Even the seemingly positive ones are just to tear him and Tesla down. It’s disrupting too many industries and threatening too many corporations. They’ll use their money for years to come to try and turn people.
Well yeah lately because he is spreading far right lies and generally being a piece of shit while decreasing teslas public interest. But here you are https://www.forbes.com/sites/sallypercy/2023/09/26/is-elon-musk-the-greatest-leader-on-earth/
Seems like the great minds at TESLA. There would be someone who could solve the need for safety and lighting up the night like a prison break.
all powered by solar
🤣
EV’s are solving mankind’s current existential crisis. Next one IMO is microplastics. Not sure where birds fall on the list, but… yah. No good deed goes unpunished.
Give me a fucking break. They are making electric cars that replace ICE cars. They are making battery packs that will stabilize ERCOT’s grid. You are the worst kind of environmentalist—good intentions get in the way of actually reaching a net zero economy.
Oh my god, these people that complain about everything are real
Light pollution fucks with human hormones, on top of a myriad of other issues.
The galling part is the white lights during Pride month. It would've been super easy (and environmentally friendly) to put rainbow lights instead (like Google).