As the fallout from the closure of Germany's Kruemmel nuclear reactor continues, politicians wrangle over the future of the country's energy production and energy giant Vattenfall tries to allay public fears. 

Much has been pledged, accused and suggested by German politicians in the week since a short-circuit in a transformer at Kruemmel bumped it off the national grid.

The Social Democrats have called for a faster nuclear phase-out plan -- currently planned for 2020 -- and stressed the importance of closing eight of the oldest reactors without further ado.

For their part, the Christian Democrats have reiterated calls to extend the operating lives of the nation's plants on the grounds that the technology is perfectly safe.

But a survey conducted by the research institute, Emnid for the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, has revealed many reservations towards nuclear energy among normal Germans. Some 72 percent of the 501 people asked said they would like to see Kruemmel and other older reactors closed down.

AP Environmental Writer= NEWPORT, Ore. (AP) â€" During his 35 years as a commercial fisherman, Jeff Feldner lost his share of crab pots when storms blew them out of position, a passing boat propeller sheared off the buoy, or a bank of kelp overwhelmed everything and dragged it away.

As a result, thousands of crab pots litter the ocean floor, creating a deadly obstacle course of brightly colored plastic lines waving in the water, waiting to entangle migrating whales, turtles and sea lions, as well as passing boats.

But once the crab season is completed in August, fishermen will have a chance to get some back in what has been billed as the largest effort ever to recover lost crab pots. A federal stimulus grant of $700,000 will go to hiring fishermen to recover about 4,000 pots â€" squat cylinders made of stainless steel mesh, rubber and iron to help it sink to the bottom.

Forget lentils and tofu. Vegetarian cooking is enjoying a makeover, prompting meat-eaters to put down their steak knives. New green cuisine is tapping into the rise of the "flexitarian", the occasional vegetarian who is helping their waistline and the planet by eating less meat.

A new crop of vegetarian restaurants is springing up, catering to rising demand for meat-free dining options. Even established restaurateurs, such as Aldo Zilli, are jumping on the bandwagon: Zilli is considering axing meat from one of his London eateries to cash in on the new trend. He is even mulling rechristening one of them Zilli Green. And other chefs, including Oliver Peyton, are increasing the number of meat-free choices on their existing menus.

From Sir Paul McCartney, who wants us all to eschew meat on Mondays, to Lydia Guevara - granddaughter of the revolutionary Che - who is starring in a new anti-meat campaign for Peta, there is no shortage of high-profile figures banging the vegetarian drum. This is boosting sales of meat-free foods in supermarkets as shoppers swap minced meat for substitutes such as Quorn. The meat-free market was worth £739m last year, up by a fifth in the last five years and is forecast to enjoy similar growth until at least 2013, according to research by Mintel.

Vegetarian food is no longer the crunchy preserve of a small minority but is hitting the mainstream. A recent poll for the Food Development Association showed that 86 per cent of Brits eat non-meat meals once or twice a week, forcing restaurants to follow suit.

Residents near Dortmund were evacuated this week after the ground collapsed around a geothermal heat pump, while in another German town, almost 190 buildings have now been damaged by a geothermal project gone awry. 

Residents of the small town of Kamen, near Dortmund, had a shock this week when ground around a construction site collapsed as a result of drilling for a geothermal heat pump. Many locals had to be evacuated amid fears that houses could collapse, and many nearby buildings now have long cracks in the walls. 

For residents of the southern German village of Staufen, the news came as little surprise: their town began sinking - and then rising - as a result of geothermal drilling almost two years ago.

Until then, Staufen had just been a quaint day-trip destination, visited by German pensioners looking for a slice of Black Forest cake and history buffs drawn to the town's links to Johann Georg Faust, the legendary alchemist and magician, who - so the story goes - made a pact with the devil here.

The UK must invest more in nuclear and clean coal energy and put less emphasis on wind power if it wants a secure low-carbon future, business leaders say.

The CBI says government energy policy is "disjointed" and it is urging a "more balanced" energy mix.

The current approach means the UK might miss climate change targets, it added.

The government said putting in place a balanced mix of renewables, new nuclear and cleaner fossil fuels was at the heart of its energy policy.