The Financial Times:
As protesters unfurl their banner along the canal beneath Germany’s newest coal plant, a barge piled high with coal glides by, the crew whooping and whistling in mockery. It could not be a more potent symbol of the struggle Germany’s environmental movement is facing.
Opposition to Datteln 4, a coal-fired power plant which opened last month in Germany’s industrial heartland, was expected to become the latest rallying cry for Germany’s environmental movement. But in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, and with recession looming, the fight against the country’s coal lobby has been overshadowed. . . .
Despite being seen as a leader in climate policy, Germany has long been Europe’s laggard over the use of coal. In January, after years of inaction and rising emissions, Berlin finally proposed phasing out coal by 2038. Shortly after — and before parliament has even passed the coal exit law — Berlin agreed to bring Datteln 4 online.
Could Angela Merkel, “the leader of the free world,” have slipped up?
Perhaps it is unkind to point out that a less carbon-heavy alternative to coal could have been nuclear power. Unfortunately, Merkel, so rational, we are always told, a scientist, we are always reminded, panicked after an earthquake triggered disaster at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2011. Panicked by what that could mean for her politically (nuclear power has been unpopular in Germany for a long time), Merkel’s government then announced the phasing out of nuclear power by 2022. Nearly half the country’s reactors were closed down in the aftermath of Fukushima, and the rest will follow.
Perhaps it is unkind to point out that Germany ranks rather lower in the earthquake league than Japan.
Perhaps it’s unkind to point out that one of the more notable German earthquakes in recent years, the Saarwelligen shocker of 2008, which “reportedly” (according to Wikipedia, in a rare moment of caution) knocked down some chimneys and caused power outages, was probably caused by mining operations. Mining what? Coal.
Abandoning nuclear power has left Germany with an energy-supply problem, which it has attempted to solve by massive investment in renewables. This has been bad news for consumers (Germany may have the highest electricity prices in the world) and been devastating for its utility companies. Renewables have not filled the gap: Coal has. As was noted in a Guardian report in 2019:
The country is the last major bastion of coal-burning in north-western Europe and the dirtiest of fossil fuels still provides nearly 40% of Germany’s power, compared with 5% in the UK.
As mentioned in the FT‘s report, Germany has agreed to phase out its coal-fired power stations by 2038, but in the meantime, here’s Dattel 4.
One of the more curious phenomena of the current pandemic has been the surge of claims by various groups, normally greenish, leftish or both, that the post-COVID world will turn its way.
The omens from Germany (so far) don’t seem to bear that out. Back to the Financial Times:
However, with Germany facing the possibility of its worst recession since the second world war, public attention has shifted away from the Greens and back to mainstream parties. This time last year the Greens were riding high in opinion polls with 27 per cent of Germans backing them. The latest Forsa poll showed support for the party has now slipped to 16 per cent.
Omid Nouripour, a Green parliamentarian, insists his party is regaining ground and will continue to gain support as Germany heads into a third dry summer, putting climate change back on the agenda. He says he is more frustrated by lack of government ambition when it comes to incorporating sustainability into economic recovery plans.
“You know that quote, never let a good crisis go to waste?” he said. “Well, they are missing it.”
Or maybe, just maybe, Merkel has realized that “incorporating sustainability” is going to get in the way of an economic recovery plan that, you know, actually works.
The Financial Times:
Some industry lobbies are pushing Berlin to prioritise growth over environmental concerns. The energy-intensive industries alliance (EID), wrote an open letter last month saying it was “questionable whether the [EU]Green Deal in its current form is helpful for the economic recovery.”
“Questionable” is a very kind word.