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Welcome to European Tribune. It's gone a bit quiet around here these days, but it's still going.
by DoDo
Mon Feb 8th, 2010 at 06:19:15 AM EST
The future mix of power plants generating electricity is a very politicised issue in Germany. Specific generating modes had their best friends in different parties: the Social Democrats (SPD) for coal, some local branches of the SPD for gas, the conservative CDU/CSU for nuclear (and some local branches of the CDU also for coal), the Greens for wind and photovoltaics and combined generation.
Consequently, government changes had strong influence on energy policy. The SPD-Greens coalition under Chancellor Schröder made nuclear phaseout a law and allowed the expansion of gas-fired plants in unison, while the expansion of renewables and a slow phase-out of coal subsidies were born out of rather intense intra-coalition fights. In the following Grand Coalition (CDU/CSU+SPD), differences mostly served to maintain the status quo, only an SPD environment minister was now free to pursue a coal renaissance (hampered by realities and activists). Finally the black-yellow (CDU/CSU with the neolib FDP) coalition government empowered in last year's federal elections was widely expected to bring back nuclear and undermine renewables.
However, the new government hasn't been any less messier on energy policy than on taxes or Afghanistan. While the pro-nuclear promises were followed up by opening talks on extending power plant lifespans, the government felt forced to make those difficult with demands like companies paying for the clean-up of a nuclear dump and the premature closure of older plants. On the renewables front, plans of the (CDU-led) environment ministry to cut the feed-in rate for photovoltaics led to protests on Thursday, also supported by regional leaders from the CDU (who fear job loss).
Now federal environment minister Norbert Röttgen seems intent to counter-act the image damage with a U-turn. In an interview with Süddeutsche Zeitung, he opined that the CDU should give up on nuclear as the identification is hurting the party, and chart out its replacement with renewables instead: in effect, an accelerated nuclear phaseout. The initiative only created more turmoil, Röttgen was attacked left and right.
The Röttgen interview is only in the paper version, but the linked on-line article sums it up with quotes and paraphrases.
As indicated, Röttgen's argument centers on public opinion and party interests:
"Die CDU muss sich gut überlegen, ob sie gerade die Kernenergie zu einem Alleinstellungsmerkmal machen will."... | | "The CDU should think it over whether it's just nuclear energy it wants to turn into a unique selling point." | ..."Kernenergie hat auch nach vierzig Jahren keine hinreichende Akzeptanz in der Bevölkerung", sagte er. Deshalb dürfe die Union ihren Erfolg nicht davon abhängig machen, dass Kernkraftwerke störungsfrei laufen. | | ..."Even after forty years, nuclear energy lacks sufficient support in the population", he said. For this reason, the CDU/CSU should not make its success dependent on the trouble-free running of nuclear power plants. |
The reinforced nuclear phaseout then outlined is presented as government policy:
Die Bundesregierung werde in den nächsten Monaten prüfen, wie sich die Kernkraftwerke schrittweise durch erneuerbare Energien ersetzen lassen. Die schwarz-gelbe Regierung hatte in ihrem Koalitionsvertrag zwar eine grundsätzliche Bereitschaft für längere Laufzeiten erkennen lassen, will diese aber in ein "Energiekonzept" einbetten. Bis zum Herbst soll es stehen. | | In the next months, the federal government will study how nuclear plants can be replaced by renewables step-by-step. Though the black-yellow government indicated its readiness for longer lifespans in the coalition agreement on principle, it wants to embed this in an "Energy Concept". This should be ready by September. | Dieses Konzept sei nötig, "nicht um die Kernkraft zu festigen, sondern um darzulegen, wie wir sie ablösen", sagte Röttgen. | | This conept is necessary "not to reinforce nuclear power, but to establish how we raplace it", Röttgen said. |
There's still a bone thrown to the companies with a strange argument:
Gleichzeitig warnte er davor, die Zusatzgewinne der Unternehmen mit einer Sonderabgabe abzuschöpfen. "Der Staat muss jeden Anschein vermeiden, er schöpfe Sondergewinne ab und mache dafür Zugeständnisse bei der Sicherheit", sagte er. | | At the same time, he warned against skimming off the extra profits of the companies with a special levy. "The State must avoid any appearance of skimming off extra profits but giving concessions on safety in return", he said. |
As the article notes, this runs directly against the (FDP) economy minister's idea of selling the extension of lifespans: he wants a special levy and use it as (direct) subsidy for renewables.
As for the frenzied intra-party reaction, here is a sharp-tongued one from deputy CDU faction head Michael Fuchs (again from Süddeutsche):
"Volkswirtschaftlich bedeutet es einen enormen Schaden, gut funktionierende Kernkraftwerke abzuschalten, die weder durch 'Vogelschredderanlagen' (Windkraft) noch durch 'Subventionsgräber' (Solarzellen) ersetzbar sind" | | "Shutting down well-functioning nuclear power plants which cannot be replaced by 'bird shredding facilities' [wind power] or 'subsidy graves' [solar cells] means an enormous damage for the national economy" |
As if out of an anti-renewables PR flyer, aint' it? Another faction vice head, Michael Kretschmer, told in the Sunday issue of Die Welt:
"Mich stört auch das Argument, es gäbe eine mangelhafte Akzeptanz der Kernenergie. Wenn das so wäre, wäre es die Aufgabe der CDU, dafür zu kämpfen, dass die Akzeptanz größer wird" | | "I am also troubled by the argument that nuclear power would have insufficient acceptance. If that would be true, then it would be the CDU's job to fight for a higher acceptance" |
Kretschmer also rolled out the standard nonsense rhetoric about Germany (an increasing net exporter) having to depend on imports, despite his party comrade speaking explicitely about a replacement:
"Ich bin selbst Ingenieur und sprachlos über so viel Unfug in der Debatte. Wollen wir tatsächlich die sichersten AKWs der Welt abschalten, um dann Strom aus weniger sicheren, ausländischen AKWs zu importieren?" | | "I am an engineer myself, and I am speechless about this much BS in the debate. Do we really want to shut down the safest nuclear power plants in the world [huh!? _DoDo] and then import electricity from less safe foreign nuclear power plants?" |
What about the opposition? The reaction was rather sceptical:
Die Grünen-Vorsitzende Claudia Roth warf Röttgen vor, er versuche ,,den Menschen Sand in die Augen zu streuen, während Schwarz-Gelb im Hinterzimmer den Ausstieg aus dem Atomausstieg festzurrt und die Solarförderung kappt". Wenn Röttgen meine, was er sage, ,,müsste er einfach am Atomausstieg festhalten". Grünen-Fraktionschefin Renate Künast nannte Röttgens Ankündigung ,,unglaubwürdig" und angesichts der bevorstehenden NRW-Landtagswahl ,,wahltaktisch". | | Greens chair[wo]man Claudia Roth accused Röttgen of attempting to "throw dust into people's eyes while black-yellow is fixing the phaseout of the nuclear phaseout and caps the support of solar behind closed doors". Would Röttgen mean what he says, "he would just have to keep to the nuclear phaseout". Greens faction leader Renate Künast called Röttgen's accouncement "untrustworthy" and, in view of the coming regional elections in Northrhine-Westphalia, "election tactics". | Der SPD-Vorsitzende Sigmar Gabriel bezweifelte den Willen zum Atomausstieg. Er sagte auf dem Landesparteitag in Neumünster (Schleswig-Holstein): ,,Ich glaube, dass Herr Röttgen und andere hier Taschenspielertricks vorbereiten und das Hin- und Herschieben von Laufzeiten planen." | | SPD chairman Sigmar Gabriel doubted the willingness for nuclear phaseout. He told at the regional party conference in Neumünster (Schleswig-Holstein state): "I believe Mr. Röttgen and others are preparing card-player tricks and are planning to push lifespans back and forth." |
What will come out of this? No clear energy policy direction, methinks.
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