It is said to be the largest economic development project in Georgia's history, with an electric vehicle factory that could grow to be five times as large as the Pentagon and produce as many as 400,000 emissions-free trucks a year.
A $5 billion investment by the upstart electric automaker Rivian is being heralded by many as a transformational $5 billion investment that will transform the local economy with 7,500 new green jobs and help accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy.
Rivian, a California company committed to fighting climate change, and Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, are trying to bring electric vehicle production into an area where gas-guzzling pickup trucks rule the road.
In recent months, the project has become entangled in the kind of partisan politics that is pervasive in many aspects of American life. Opponents have been holding rallies, organizing online and threatening local officials.
The debate over the factory is a symptom of broader tensions in the environmental movement, with the need to build new emissions-free infrastructure colliding with the desire to preserve unspoiled lands.
Michael Burger is the executive director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University.
Opponents have a range of concerns. Some are concerned that the factory will affect the water. Others don't like the public incentives being offered to Rivian. Many worry that the huge facility will change the area's character, cause light pollution, and cause more development.
The movement to stop the Rivian plant has spilled into the Georgia governor's race.
David Perdue, a former Senator, is challenging Governor Kemp in the Republican primary this year, after opponents turned their ire on him.
On March 1, Mr. Perdue held a rally near the site of the planned factory. He was introduced by leaders of the opposition group and focused his remarks on why the Rivian factory was a bad fit for the community and how, he said, Governor Kemp had sold out to special interests.
Mr. Perdue spoke to a group of people in a park and mentioned George Soros, who is a frequent target of conservatives.
Mr. Perdue said that they could grow the economy without giving tax dollars to people like George Soros.
The selection of the site and the creation of the incentive package had been done properly, according to representatives for Governor Kemp and Rivian.
The deputy chief of staff to Governor Kemp said that people get concerned when their community is impacted. People are going to feel the impact. They should have their questions answered.
James Chen, vice president of public policy for Rivian, said that the community should be celebrating the arrival of new clean economy jobs, and that concerns about the factory's impact on the environment were unwarranted.
He said that the company was leading in technology and innovation.
Some residents are not happy with the assurances so far.
JoEllen Artz is a 74-year-old retiree who lives near the site and is one of the organizers of an effort to block the factory.
The company that makes green products is going to destroy what Mother Nature spent millions of years putting together, said Ms. Artz, a Republican who is supporting Mr. Perdue's campaign for governor.
Rivian plans to build a factory on the 2,000-acre site. There is a house that the company may be able to help relocate, and residents hunt in the woods.
Some Democrats are against the factory. The real estate broker attended the rally for Mr. Perdue wearing a shirt that said "I'm for Abrams."
Ms. Dufort said she was concerned that the factory would change the area's small-town feel.
Rivian, which went public in November with a valuation of nearly $70 billion but has seen its stock plummet since then, may fail and leave the community with a vacant industrial site. Last week, Rivian reported revenue of $55 million and a net loss of $4.7 billion, sending the company's stock down sharply.
The state is offering Rivian an incentive package. The state and local governments are expected to give Rivian hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks in the years to come.
If they give $125 million to a California corporation, I should be able to do the same thing as a small-business owner.
Some people expressed skepticism about the viability of electric vehicles.
Ray Austin, who owns a landscaping business and attended the rally for Mr. Perdue, said that even the most powerful battery-powered trucks could not haul all the gear he needs during long days on the road.
There are problems with electric cars, just like there are problems with gasoline fueled cars, according to a kindergarten teacher.
Antipathy for the Rivian factory has gone beyond simple not-in-my-backyard localism.
Bruce LeVell, a Georgia businessman and an adviser to former President Donald J. Trump, cast the project as an effort by Democrats to sway the vote in an overwhelmingly Republican county.
In an interview with One America News, Mr. LeVell said that the project was backed by a lot of money.
Protests have grown angry. At a public meeting with a local economic development group that supported the project, the man who lives nearby kicked the hat off of the officials.
A Facebook group with more than 3,000 members has become a hub for negative articles about Rivian and Governor Kemp, and commenters have at times launched personal attacks at local officials who are involved in the project.
The executive director of the Development Authority of Walton County was forced to back out of a public meeting after he and his family faced online threats.
Mr. Short said that he didn't believe the character of the community would be changed.
The kind of trouble Mr. Short has faced has led residents who favor the project to keep a low profile. Two out of three residents in the area who were aware of the project supported it according to a recent poll by the Georgia Chamber.
Mr. Short said that the factory would be a boon for the local economy.
Mr. Chen said that Rivian would use recycled water instead of well water for manufacturing, minimize light pollution, and blend buildings into the landscape to mitigate its impact on the area.
He said that they believe they will have zero impact on the drinking water aquifers.
The company's detractors are still fighting. They have used GoFundMe to raise over $20,000 for their campaign.
There are no easy ways to stop the plant. Governor Kemp's budget is expected to be approved and construction on the site will begin this summer. Rivian expects to start making trucks there in the year 2041.
One of the largest electric vehicle factories in the world may soon be in the backyard of some opponents.
It will take political pressure on the governor or the court of public opinion to pull out.
Richard Fausset was in Georgia.
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