海角大神

The hummingbird-specked lifestyle and sometimes-brutal history聽of Morgan County, Georgia, are all wrapped up in a document drily called the 鈥�2017-2036 Issue Based Comprehensive Plan.鈥澛�

Focus groups used words like 鈥渂oring,鈥� 鈥渟afe,鈥� and 鈥減rogressive鈥� to describe a rural county dotted with hayfields, the stray housing development, and reservoirs thick with catfish. When they thought about the desired future of the region just a few miles east of Atlanta鈥檚 urban fall line, one word loomed above the others: 鈥渂etter.鈥�

But what does that word mean? And where does automakers鈥� march toward electrification聽fit in?聽

Plans by the California-based Rivian electric vehicle truckmaker to build a massive plant and battery assembly on a rolling, old farm here face unexpected pushback from a key bloc of rural Republicans concerned about environmental and social impacts 鈥� and the right balance between stewardship and progress.

As a result, the state鈥檚 biggest-ever economic development deal is testing the ability of rural communities to guide their own growth, especially when local values are pitted against national, even global, interests.

鈥淭he problem with how we address ... climate change issues is that they affect the entire world, but the costs of addressing them have to be paid at the local level,鈥� says Emily Diamond, an environmental policy expert at the University of Rhode Island, in Kingston. The clash over the Rivian plant 鈥渋s a perfect example of that tradeoff.鈥�

鈥淚n our research, we heard a lot of rural communities prioritizing clean water and clean air ... but it鈥檚 really driven by this value of stewardship that rural communities tend to really prioritize 鈥� place-based stewardship,鈥� says Ms. Diamond, a former Georgia resident who co-wrote a study on rural environmentalism in 2020.

At the same time, she says, communities that have maintained their land for generations tend to resent the 鈥渦rban elite,鈥� especially environmentalists, telling them what to do. 鈥淭hat contributes to this sense where rural communities don鈥檛 have a say 鈥� in these large climate change negotiations and policies that are being developed without their input and then done to them as opposed to with them,鈥� she adds.聽

Jobs versus country living

Gov. Brian Kemp in December announced the $5 billion Rivian deal. A $1.5 billion state investment helped coax what he said would become 7,500 jobs, millions of dollars in new taxes that would reduce residents鈥� property taxes, and provide fresh economic opportunity for one of the poorer parts of the state.聽

Especially in an election year when Governor Kemp is facing a Trump-backed primary challenger, the announcement fit a long pattern of Southern states courting industry to help build economic and racial equality. The NAACP is firmly behind the plant, given its potential to boost wealth for rural Black communities.

鈥淓ver since that [Nissan] plant went into Nashville [in 1983], the sweepstakes for Southern states is, Can we attract some kind of vehicle manufacturing plant?鈥� says Charles Bullock III, an expert on Southern politics at the University of Georgia, in Athens. 鈥淚f you [as the governor] can, you鈥檝e won the Oscar, you鈥檝e won the Tony.鈥澛�

Edwin Snell, for one, isn鈥檛 clapping.

The central Georgia businessman sees the plan as a backhanded way to pretend to 鈥渟ave the world鈥� from climate change while turning his beloved Georgia backcountry into an 鈥渁rmpit.鈥�

And many residents, he says, are deeply suspicious of the backroom politics, particularly permitting for what was supposed to be a residential reservoir that now appears to have been reserved for a company like Rivian 鈥� 鈥渁 shell game in other words,鈥� says Mr. Snell.

An environmental group聽has ranked the reservoir plan as one of Georgia鈥檚 top environmental disasters, given the amount of water it would quaff from one of the last virgin rivers in the region, the Apalachee River. The Northeast Georgia Regional Commission, an advisory body, has panned the plan as well, saying it poses a substantial risk to already scarce groundwater.聽

Rivian did not respond to interview requests, but the region鈥檚 Joint Development Authority, which lured the plant from other suitors, including Texas, issued a statement saying, 鈥淎ll state and federal permitting requests will be met, and impacts to streams and wetlands will be mitigated as required by the Army Corps of Engineers.鈥�

And Rivian itself, when pressed by investors before its public offering last year, stated its commitment to 鈥渞esponsible environmental, social, and governance practices.鈥�

Not everyone in Rutledge is convinced. 鈥淚f the Rivian plant goes through, basically what they are telling us is that all the long-range plans ... [are a] joke,鈥� says Mr. Snell, whose family founded nearby Snellville soon after the Civil War. An outpost 18 miles from downtown Atlanta, the town still has some rural character, but probably not for long. A fast-growing suburb, it鈥檚 one of the few places in the state that continued to see upscale home construction through the Recession.

Mr. Snell doesn鈥檛 want that for Rutledge. 鈥淭hey want to do it here because we don鈥檛 have unions, they can get cheap labor, and they won鈥檛 have trouble with permitting, including to build slab houses and Section 8 [subsidized] houses for workers,鈥� he says.

Two views of the rural South

In some ways, the political script has been flipped, revealing a crossroads in the climate debate, where environmentalists support industrial growth and conservatives cry conservation.

Downtown Rutledge is so small that instead of a stoplight, it has a traffic barrel festooned with stop signs. On a recent day, the traffic was so light that no one really noticed when a car accidentally backed into the barrel, setting one of the signs askew.

鈥淭he situation in Georgia is more of a NIMBY-situation,鈥� says Aubrey Jewett, a political scientist at the University of Central Florida, in Orlando, referring to the term meaning 鈥渘ot in my backyard.鈥澛燚escribing residents鈥� thoughts, he says, 鈥溾�榃e鈥檙e a nice rural area. We want to keep it rural. We want the clean environment. And we don鈥檛 want these big changes.鈥欌�澛�

Indeed, Ms. Diamond at the University of Rhode Island found that rural voters are more likely than urban ones to identify with their surroundings, leading to 鈥渟trong values of place-based identity, community, and stewardship of their land and resources,鈥� which in turn can shape their views on zoning and environmental policy.

But for some, there are familiar rhythms to the opposition.聽

When Phyllis Reed looks at who is wearing 鈥淲e the People are pissed off鈥� T-shirts, she sees 鈥渕ostly older white men.鈥� For her as a Black professional 鈥� she is a logistics expert at a big Atlanta firm 鈥� the racial and class aspects are unmistakable. A lot of the resistance, she says, is a function of white property ownership, much of which goes back to before the Civil War.

She bought a house in nearby Madison because she couldn鈥檛 afford one in Atlanta. Plus, she loves country living, save the nearly two-hour rush-hour commute to north Atlanta. A plant, she says, would both create new opportunities and cement the region鈥檚 relevance.聽

鈥淚f you don鈥檛 grow, you will go away,鈥� says Ms. Reed. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 evolve that way.鈥�

What鈥檚 best for the future?

If Ms. Reed represents African Americans who have struggled to stake fair claim and Mr. Snell represents those who can claim generational investments in this rolling land, Bruce Altznauer is a newcomer with a different view.聽

A transplant from suburban Atlanta, he says he found his true home in Rutledge. Several years ago, he was elected mayor.

He sat on the commission that created the county master plan, which cites the area鈥檚 鈥渟mall town character鈥� as its most valuable commodity, framing it as an alternative 鈥渢o the typical suburban lifestyle.鈥� When addressing growth, the result of 18 community meetings demanded that the county 鈥渢ake into account impacts on transportation, natural resources, and our towns when considering economic development projects.鈥�

He has reservations about the plant鈥檚 environmental impacts, but he says, 鈥淚 trust Governor Kemp 鈥� he hasn鈥檛 steered us wrong yet. And I trust the experts. I think they will have people to give us an honest opinion of the impacts.鈥澛�

In his view, the plant and its promises could help keep a younger generation from abandoning their hometowns, thus ensuring that generational interests 鈥� and stewardship 鈥� continue.

鈥淚鈥檓 not an ostrich,鈥� he adds. 鈥淚鈥檓 not trying to put my head in the sand. My job is not just to protect the citizens who are celebrating the town鈥檚 150th anniversary this year. I鈥檝e got to make sure there鈥檚 a 300th birthday. I鈥檝e got to protect the future as well.鈥�