Court battle now expected with opposition determined to stop Chinese company’s Illinois EV battery plant – Wirepoints

This column was updated to include the statement by Gotion’s Chuck Thelen.

By: Mark Glennon*

Next stop is the courthouse for opponents of the controversial electric vehicle battery plant planned for Manteno, Illinois by Gotion, a Chinese company. Opposition remains fierce and determined, headed by NoGotion-Illinois, which has been raising money for its lawsuit and other work.

The Manteno Village Board voted 5 to 1 Monday night in favor of a zoning change needed for the project, which opponents had expected and which will be subject to the litigation, NoGotion Illinois told us.

Opposition originated from extensive, documented connections between Gotion and the Chinese Communist Party and massive taxpayer subsidies for the project. The plant will cost Gotion just $2 billion, but the federal government will provide Gotion with $7.5 billion in cash-value tax credits in addition to a $536 million incentive package from the State of Illinois.

Multiple environmental objections have also been raised, which apparently will be part of the lawsuit over zoning.

Federal legislation is now pending that would end federal tax breaks for Gotion and similar Chinese entities. Gotion critics at the federal level have included Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI) of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Illinois Republican Reps. Darin LaHood, Mike Bost and Mary Miller.Wirepoints has repeatedly criticized the Gotion projects. Our columns and other key articles are collected here.

Local opponents are particularly furious about lack of transparency for the project. Gotion and the State of Illinois, they claim, greased the project through with local officials before any public knowledge or discussion.

Gov. JB Pritzker refuses to answer any questions whatsoever about the project, which he spearheaded, dismissing all critics as “MAGA Republicans” and “xenophobic.” That’s hardly true, according to a professional poll commissioned by Wirepoints last month that found statewide, bipartisan opposition to the project. Opposition is particularly intense in Kankakee County, where the project is to be located, with opposition exceeding support by over 2 to 1, the poll found. Full results are reproduced below.

Meanwhile, in Michigan, new scrutiny is challenging Gotion’s similar battery project in Green Charter Township, as reported Tuesday by Bridge Michigan. That project made national headlines last month when citizens recalled all township trustees who had supported the project, replacing them with opponents, and immediately rescinded approval of water lines to the project. During a special meeting Sunday, the board officially changed the township’s position on the project.

Remaining unclear is what impact cancellation of the Michigan project, which seems increasingly likely, would have on the Illinois project. Some reports indicate that the Michigan plant would produce parts used in the Illinois plant.

That’s among many questions unanswered. Jason Kruse, one of the new Michigan township supervisors, says he and the rest of the just-sworn township board have no knowledge of where the project stands to confirm that it’s on track.

“There’s no communication,” Kruse said. “I don’t know what they’re doing, what they’re thinking or where they’re at.” Likewise, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Cella, a leading Gotion critic, told Wirepoints that dealing with Gotion is “like talking to a ghost.” Answers just aren’t there.

Chuck Thelen, vice president of Gotion Inc. – North American Manufacturing, however, denies that charge and a Gotion representative sent us the following statement “Reports of Gotion Inc. not communicating with the new Green Charter Township Board are untrue. I have personally tried to email Supervisor Kruse and set up meetings with him, but have not received responses yet due to reasons unknown. It’s important to note that Supervisor Kruse is a newly elected official and likely very busy. So I would understand if he didn’t see his emails yet. Thankfully, I did receive a response from the township clerk on December 4, so we have hopes of possible future collaboration, Thelen said.  “The project remains on track and we will continue to work with the entire Green Township Board to ensure that all contractual obligations are met by both parties.”

Also noteworthy is an obscenely biased and misleading news story on Gotion in Monday’s Chicago Tribune by Jeremy Gorner and Rick Pearson.

Their article parrots Pritzker’s spin that opposition is limited to right wing nutjobs.  The proposal,” says the Tribune,” has become a cause celebre for the Republican right, which led the way in stoking fears about the prospect of communist infiltration given the Chinese ownership of the plant’s parent company.” No mention of the Illinois poll or a similar Michigan poll showing overwhelming statewide opposition there as well.

The Tribune article sights just one item in the long list of evidence of Gotion’s CCP connections, dismissing it as something all Chinese companies share, and tries to normalize Gotion by pointing out that Volkswagen is a major shareholder. No mention, though, that Volkswagen waived its voting rights to assure that Chinese nationals retain voting control.

It features pictures of Gotion supporters at the Village Board meeting with their signs but none of opponents and their signs, not mentioning that the supporters were jawboned by unions to appear in opposition.

It makes no mention of the grossly oversized federal subsidy.

It says the Michigan project made national headlines but doesn’t say why, which is the astonishing citizens’ recall vote throwing out all supporters, a result Politico called a “big message” to President Biden.

Like so many in today’s world of “advocacy journalism,” Gorner and Pearson have no shame.

*Mark Glennon is founder of Wirepoints.

See all our columns and other major articles on Gotion collected here.

Poll results from Cor Strategies: