for context: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2026/oct/22/finland-google-felling-trees-datacentre
“‘Pure arrogance’: anger in Finland as Google illegally fells 250,000 trees for datacentre”
A fine is only acceptable if it’s a fine on top of the cost of restoring this forest to it’s previous state.
Story may be true but that image is AI.
Story also claims that they took the topsoil away, but the flyover in the Guardian article shows soil windrows. They look like topsoil admixed with subsoil, and randomly scattered in some cases. Not super great soil management.
Make them pay the fines in voting shares.
They should be made to replant the whole area with trees, along with a suitable monetary fine.
There’s a follow up on this from 29 Oct 2026 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/29/finland-criminal-investigation-google-clearing-forest-datacentre
Unless I missed something it basically just boiled down to “we’re looking in to it”. Nothing about forcing a stop, fines, anything.
Well, let’s start by fining them per tree.
One billion € per tree is a good round number.
Maybe you need to learn about fines in Finland…
The problem with this is that it presumes that rich people are rich because of high income. Sure this might hit some lawyer or CEO with a high salary pretty hard at some point, but the owner class couldn’t care less. What is Elon Musk’s income? He doesn’t just get a paycheck like we plebs do. He has assets that appreciate in value that he can borrow against. If he gets a speeding ticket in Finland, how are they going to determine his income? Most of it isn’t even generated in the country. Sure they can maybe come up with some number based on some symbolic CEO salary he pays himself, but that number is ultimately meaningless compared to his actual wealth. So if Elon Musk wanted to, he could speed right through Helsinki and give the Finish people the middle finger.
I wish we had that in Sweden
We do?
Sweden has a day-fine system. So your wish is granted. I’m not a genie or anything. Actually both countries have had it for about 100 years.
Doubtful it will be applied in a case against a company though.
The Finnish fine system is the only truly democratic form of financial penalty: the rich and the poor fear a fine alike. And it’s completely obvious and logical on its face - something only the no-nonsense Finns could have come up with.
I wish the entire world adopted it.
