by Jerome a Paris
Sun Jul 8th, 2007 at 04:23:28 AM EST
I expect a major row to be triggered by new hints that the CDU will drop the nuclear phase out pledge of the current coalition government:
Germany to stay nuclear in Merkel U-turn
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, is preparing to perform a major U-turn by scrapping plans to abandon nuclear power.
(...)
Mrs Merkel's dramatic change of heart surfaced at an energy summit attended by government and industry heads in Berlin last week, when it became clear that her ruling grand coalition's aim of closing Germany's 17 nuclear power plants by the early 2020s were at odds with targets for the reduction of CO2 emissions.
A government-commissioned study unveiled at the summit showed that Mrs Merkel's targets were not feasible without nuclear power.
(...)
Her plans to stick with nuclear power are unlikely to be finalised until after a general election in 2009, but the issue could nonetheless dominate the contest.
While I personally understand the logic of that proposed decision in the current context (Germany has done the most on the alternative energy front, and yet it is planning a large number of coal-fired plants to respond to expected demand - because it has not really tackled, like everybody else, real demand-side policies, and seems unable, for instance, to give up its fascination for over-powerful cars), this was a major issue for the SPD and I wonder if this could be enough to trigger a coalition breakdown and early elections.
