After covert cooperation between the Trump administration and Scott Walker, Foxconn a Taiwanese manufacturing company received a massive 10 billion dollar subsidy for the construction of a liquid crystal display (LCD) factory in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin.The LCD’s that Foxconn produce can be found in many Apple products and the manufacturing process behind the technology has many negative environmental impacts. Millions of gallons of water will need to be pumped from Lake Michigan everyday for LCD production and the factory will expose the surrounding ecosystem to a hazardous array of chemicals including mercury, cadmium and hydrogen fluoride. Chemical waste from the facility will easily spread downstream because the factory’s construction will destroy wetlands that are essential to flood prevention, during a time when rainfall patterns have been more frequent and severe
While the environmental impacts of the factory are clear and must be addressed in its initial construction to mitigate future damages, Foxconn will also severely affect the amount of car travel in Racine County. Mount Pleasant has a total population of around 26,00 people. The Foxconn factory plans to add 13,000 jobs to the local area, however employees will not come solely from Mt. Pleasant; the labor force required to run the factory will need to come from people in Milwaukee, Kenosha, Racine and other populous regions. To accommodate the influx of people needing to commute to the town of Mount Pleasant, Foxconn with the support of the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (SEWRPC) advocated for additional lanes along roads that lead to the factory. This is not a solution. When highway lanes are added, traffic congestion and air pollution increase.
The creation of 13,000 jobs for the residents of Southeast Wisconsin is not the issue. The problem arises when Foxconn and SEWRPC neglect that other forms of transportation exist. Buses and trains have the potential to provide faster, eco-friendly ways of commuting to the factory for employees coming from farther away, but are being overlooked for the creation of roads. By diverging the would-be-investment of additional lane construction into public transportation, an effective commuting system can be developed. Roads only serve as resource intensive and environmentally destructive surfaces for car-owning citizens to use, and if a person does not own a motor vehicle roads, provide nothing to them. Public transportation systems like buses and trains, however, provide a direct and affordable means of transit for getting to work that will work for anyone, can function on already present roads and discourages excessive automobile use.
Foxconn’s push for additional lane development sets an unfavorable precedent for the future of transportation in the Southeastern part of the state. If created with transit and the environment in mind, the assets and political power Foxconn has been given could result in a sustainable factory and an effective transport system that can used as a model for other major projects in the future.
By Harrison Chalnick, Chapter Executive Committee Member