German chancellor Angela Merkel and coal: Is this the worst kind of hypocrisy on climate change?
Wow, I have to say that’s pretty stunning. Germany has been a leader in calling for CO2 cuts. “Germany will stick to a more ambitious goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2020 even though the U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen fell short of expectations” http://www.scientificamerican.com/articl… I don’t see how they can achieve these sorts of cuts if they continue to build new coal power plants. Decommissioning nuclear power plants isn’t necessarily a big deal, as long as they’re replaced with renewable energy. But if they’re replaced by coal, it’s obviously extremely counter-productive. I just lost a lot of respect for Merkel. It just goes to show how difficult it is for politicians to put aside the economic interests of their countries’ fossil fuel industries for the sake of the environment. Shame on Merkel.
