Slower coal exit as antidote for right-wing populism
The joint effort of Germany鈥檚 coal mining states against enshrining a definitive date for ending coal-fired power production may help curb support for the right-wing populist party Alternative f眉r Deutschland (AfD), writes Jens Tartler in Tagesspiegel. Politicians in the affected states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg and Saxony professed to be concerned with securing Germany鈥檚 power supply 鈥� but in reality are concerned 鈥減rimarily with the workers in coal-mining areas, who also are voters鈥�, Tartler argues. If people in these areas were given a date for coal exit without a plan for restructuring their regions economically, 鈥測ou might as well send them to the AfD right away鈥�, according to Hubertus Heil, vice chairman of the Social Democrats鈥� parliamentary group. The coal states ensured that the ministry for the economy and not for the environment will now handle the regions鈥� transition 鈥� 鈥渁nd that it will start its work only after the 2017 general elections鈥�,Tartler writes.
Read more on regional peculiarities of energy transition in the 麻豆无码版 factsheet German federalism: In 16 states of mind over the Energiewende.
For background on the development of Germany鈥檚 Climate Action Plan 2050, read this 麻豆无码版 factsheet.