On Friday, U.S. District Court judge’s granted Gotion Inc. preliminary injunctive relief against efforts of Mecosta County’s Green Charter Township’s attempts to block construction of an electric vehicle battery component plant.

Despite the setback, CCP Gotion opponents are undeterred in their resistance to the proposed factory, citing environmental concerns, the company’s alleged links to the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Republic of China, among other apprehensions.

In fact, GCT opposition was so heated, voters replaced the entire seven-member Township Board last November after they rubber-stamped their approval of the CCP Gotion facility along with the Gov. Gretchen Whitmer administration, Mecosta County, the city of Big Rapids, and Ferris State University.

The proposed CCP Gotion plant was originally sited for both Green Charter and Big Rapids townships. Opposition in Big Rapids Township, however, prompted CCP Gotion to drop its plans to build there.

The previous Green Charter Township board, however, approved a Development Agreement with CCP Gotion. The new board attempted to reverse the agreement, prompting CCP Gotion to file suit against the GCT in March.

“[T]he Court determines, in its discretion, that the overall balancing of the equities warrants the issuance of a Preliminary Injunction during the pendency of this case, or until Further Order of the Court. The Court therefore grants Gotion’s motion,” wrote U.S. District Judge Jane Beckering.

“The significant monetary and contractual harms Gotion would suffer if the project, an extensive undertaking with coordinated construction processes, were to continue to be delayed qualify as irreparable injury under Sixth Circuit precedent,” Beckering wrote.

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“I think it’s clear from developments at the local level and in Mecosta County there is strong and genuine and growing opposition to the Gotion project,” Rich Studley, former president of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and opponent of the Gotion project, told The Midwesterner.

Studley conceded the legal defeat, but noted it’s only “one round in a 10-round fight.” He also said he’s siding with the David of Green Charter Township against CCP Gotion’s Goliath.

“It’s really not surprising. Gotion is a company with direct ties to the brutal and totalitarian Communist Party, which wouldn’t tolerate the local election such as where community residents in Green Charter Township said ‘hell no’ to Gotion,” Studley said. “Where Gotion is headquartered. the only elections that matter are elections that are decided by members of the Chinese Communist Party in China there are no local elections unless the Chinese Communist party decides to hold them to ratify a party decision that’s already been made,” he said.

Studley asserted that CCP Gotion’s close ties to the Chinese Communist party has sparked what he calls conducting “lawfare against a small rural township.”

🏢💸💸 Data centers & EV battery plants are BOTH huge users of electricity & water! The cynical “environmental advocacy groups” who have been missing in action & silent for over two years while Gov Whitmer & Democratic lawmakers squander over $1 Billion in state funds on… https://t.co/nqDoghLTCO pic.twitter.com/IdrRTcgR57

— Rich Studley, Michigander (@rstudley) May 20, 2024

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That lawfare, Studley explained, only “pours gasoline” on local opposition.

CCP Gotion’s status as a global EV battery maker headquartered in China with billions of dollars in assets and thousands of employees allows it to engage in lawfare to threaten and intimidate residents of rural communities as well as their elected officials, Studley said.

He said that, if completed, the CCP Gotion plant would require than 700,000 gallons of water daily, creating a risk to nearby wetlands and the Muskegon River watershed, while requiring the use of hundreds of fully loaded semitrucks per day. He also referenced national security risks posed to the cybersecurity center located at Ferris State University.

“It’s increasing apparent Gotion is not welcome in Green Charter Township, Big Rapids, Mecosta County, or Western Michigan” he said.