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The Shocking Impact of the Energy Crisis on Germany and Reactions from Leadership

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The Shocking Impact of the Energy Crisis on Germany and Reactions from Leadership

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This article I think highlights some of the shocking nature of the state of Germany's energy crisis with the paragraph "Across Europe, analysts have put the gas shortfall at almost 15% of average winter demand and said Germany needed to cut energy consumption by around a fifth, with worrying implications for Europe's biggest economy whose industry has relied on abundant, affordable energy supplies." really hitting hard after studying this issue for the past few weeks. Just plainly putting it into numbers was quite schocking.

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Germans told to unite over energy crisis amid EU divisions

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Germany can weather a winter gas shortage caused by Russia’s war on Ukraine provided companies and households pull together, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday ahead of a meeting of EU ministers divided over the best response to the energy crisis.

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I think this is an interesting reply to the below tweet which highlights some of the sentiments of the German people expressed throughout articles I've read. It demonstrates the power of social media to provide direct voices to those being effected by the stories we are looking at.

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This ties back to one of the primary sources highlighted in another tab, but I wanted to include it to highlight some of the replies from people in Germany.

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Berlin news: In response to widespread criticism of Germany’s €200 billion gas price relief package, Olaf Scholz indicated that EU debt via loans could be an option to create more solidarity at European level.

https://t.co/dLVFTAQb7Q

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Germany keeps door open to using EU loans amid energy crisis

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Berlin says it does not want to openly debate a new SURE mechanism just now, but also doesn’t rule it out.

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Berlin news: In response to widespread criticism of Germany’s €200 billion gas price relief package, Olaf Scholz indicated that EU debt via loans could be an option to create more solidarity at European level.

https://t.co/dLVFTAQb7Q

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Berlin news: In response to widespread criticism of Germany’s €200 billion gas price relief package, Olaf Scholz indicated that EU debt via loans could be an option to create more solidarity at European level.https://t.co/dLVFTAQb7Q
— Hans von der Burchard (@vonderburchard) October 12, 2022

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Berlin news: In response to widespread criticism of Germany’s €200 billion gas price relief package, Olaf Scholz indicated that EU debt via loans could be an option to create more solidarity at European level.

https://t.co/dLVFTAQb7Q

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Germany keeps door open to using EU loans amid energy crisis

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Berlin says it does not want to openly debate a new SURE mechanism just now, but also doesn’t rule it out.

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Berlin news: In response to widespread criticism of Germany’s €200 billion gas price relief package, Olaf Scholz indicated that EU debt via loans could be an option to create more solidarity at European level.

https://t.co/dLVFTAQb7Q

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Berlin news: In response to widespread criticism of Germany’s €200 billion gas price relief package, Olaf Scholz indicated that EU debt via loans could be an option to create more solidarity at European level.

https://t.co/dLVFTAQb7Q

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Germany keeps door open to using EU loans amid energy crisis

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Berlin says it does not want to openly debate a new SURE mechanism just now, but also doesn’t rule it out.

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Politico Bio for Hans Joachim von der Burchard.

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Senior Politics Reporter, Germany

@vonderburchard

Hans von der Burchard is a senior politics reporter covering the German chancellery with POLITICO's politics team. He has been with POLITICO since the launch of the European edition in 2015.

Hans started in journalism working at the local radio and television channel and newspaper in Kiel, Germany. He also served in the press office of the German Air Force during his military service.

He apprenticed at Die Welt, Bild and Computerbild during his time at the Axel Springer Academy and wrote for these publications while studying political science and European studies in Berlin, Uppsala and Strasbourg.

He speaks English, German, Dutch, French, Italian and Spanish.

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Senior Politics Reporter, Germany @vonderburchard Hans von der Burchard is a senior politics reporter covering the German chancellery with POLITICO's politics team. He has been with POLITICO since the launch of the European edition in 2015. Hans started in journalism working at the local radio and television channel and newspaper in Kiel, Germany.

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The author of this Politico article, Hans von der Burchard, is in charge of covering the chancellery of Germany. This particular article discusses what the chancellor has said about the loans Germany is currently taking from the EU. It is interesting to acknowledge the tense relation between Germany and the other EU countries currently due to the impact of their energy shortage. Many countries are upset by the economic toll Germany's crisis is having on them.

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BERLIN - The German government stressed Tuesday that it is not willing to discuss fresh EU debt via loans "at present" - but it left open the door to potentially endorsing such a plan later.

Bloomberg reported Monday that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz "will support joint issuance of European Union debt" to tackle the fallout from the energy crisis, as long as the money is issued as loans and not grants.

Two officials also told POLITICO that in response to widespread criticism of Germany's €200 billion gas price relief package, the chancellor had indicated that EU loans could be an option to support partner countries that might struggle to set up similar support measures for their economies. Such a solidarity mechanism could be based on the SURE program that the EU set up as a first response to the coronavirus crisis in 2020 and which is based on loans that are underpinned by a system of voluntary guarantees from EU countries.

Crucially, Germany's fiscally conservative Finance Minister Christian Lindner does not rule out such a plan - although he said he does not believe this is the right moment for it.

Asked about the idea, a spokesperson for Lindner referred to an interview with Spiegel at the weekend, in which the finance minister rejected the issuance of fresh EU debt via grants - as happened under the EU's €750 billion fund to recover from the pandemic- but signaled openness to potentiallydiscussing a loans-based solution similar to SURE.

"The SURE program ... consists of loans that were only jointly backed by guarantees from the member states. That is something different," Lindner said.

However, he stressed that "at present, I see no reason for this discussion." The spokesperson said these comments reflected Lindner's position as of Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the chancellery did not respond to questions about Scholz considering the issuing of new EU loans similar to SURE, a solution that was pitched by EU Commissioners Paolo Gentiloni and Thierry Breton last week.

The government spokesperson instead listed other financial tools that are alreadybeing mobilized at the European level, notably the €750 billion recovery fund.

"Only around one-fifth of the funds [from the recovery fund] have been disbursed to date," the spokesperson said. "Therefore, a large part of the funds is still available to support investments and reforms in the member states and can thus contribute to crisis management and ecological transition in the energy sector."

Moreover, the spokesperson referred to the REPowerEU program that was agreed last week by EU finance ministers.

"This is a package with which we are mobilizing funds of well over €200 billion, to a considerable extent from previously unused credits, reinforced for example by substantial grants. To this end, we now also need to quickly reach an understanding with the European Parliament so that these funds can be used in a timely manner."

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Germany keeps door open to using EU loans amid energy crisis

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BERLIN - The German government stressed Tuesday that it is not willing to discuss fresh EU debt via loans "at present" - but it left open the door to potentially endorsing such a plan later.

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This was an interesting European source that primarily focuses on the transition from fossil fuel energy, to renewable energy. The crossover into economics in this article was an interesting one and though I expected there to be more opinions on what Germany should do, the article instead focused on current facts and circumstance.

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Energy crisis to push Germany into recession in 2023, warns government

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The European energy crisis is set to push Germany into a recession in 2023, as rising energy prices put a damper on industrial production and inflation means citizens will buy less, said the economy ministry in its autumn projection for the country's economic development.

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Though not news directly abut Germany this article from Fox 23 in Maine is something closer to home that touches on the potential local impacts of new European sanctions. It was interesting to see how the focus shifted to local impact in local papers.

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organization of petroleum exporting countries

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Gas prices in Maine jump overnight after OPEC+ makes big oil cut to boost prices

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The pain at the pump returns. Gas prices are up overnight, and this could just be the start.In Maine, AAA is reporting a 5-cent jump from Wednesday with Thursda

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A map of Germany Focused on carbon production. This is an interesting article and graphic in relation to Germany's increased coal use during this crisis. I find it interesting to see how this map will change in respect to current events.

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This is an interesting take on the EUs efforts to add nuclear and natural gas to the "green energy category" calling it greenwashing. This is a blue check mark source on Instagram, how much weight should that hold.

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by NowThis Earth (@nowthisearth)

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This account posts what is "really going on" but doesn't have much backing their legitimacy.

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Thousands of people in Gera in Germany against Olaf Scholz's policy and the explosion of energy and gas prices. They demand an end to sanctions on Russia and the reopening of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Demonstrations also in other German cities but EU media censors them.

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Thousands of people in Gera in Germany against Olaf Scholz's policy and the explosion of energy and gas prices. They demand an end to sanctions on Russia and the reopening of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Demonstrations also in other German cities but EU media censors them. https://t.co/dmTMLY11jn

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Thousands of people in Gera in Germany against Olaf Scholz's policy and the explosion of energy and gas prices. They demand an end to sanctions on Russia and the reopening of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Demonstrations also in other German cities but EU media censors them. pic.twitter.com/dmTMLY11jn
— RadioGenova (@RadioGenova) September 26, 2022

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Thousands of people in Gera in Germany against Olaf Scholz's policy and the explosion of energy and gas prices. They demand an end to sanctions on Russia and the reopening of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Demonstrations also in other German cities but EU media censors them. https://t.co/dmTMLY11jn

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Thousands of people in Gera in Germany against Olaf Scholz's policy and the explosion of energy and gas prices. They demand an end to sanctions on Russia and the reopening of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Demonstrations also in other German cities but EU media censors them. https://t.co/dmTMLY11jn

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Thousands of people in Gera in Germany against Olaf Scholz's policy and the explosion of energy and gas prices. They demand an end to sanctions on Russia and the reopening of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Demonstrations also in other German cities but EU media censors them.

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Germany sticks to nuclear power deadline but leaves loophole

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Germany sticks to nuclear power deadline but leaves loophole

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BERLIN (AP) - Germany is sticking to its long-held plan of shutting down the country's three remaining nuclear power plants this year but keeping the option of reactivating two of them in case of an energy shortage in the coming months, officials said Monday.

The announcement follows the publication of a much-anticipated stress test that examined how Germany's power grid will cope with a possible electricity squeeze due to the energy crisis Europe is facing.

Like other European countries, Germany is scrambling to ensure the lights stay on and homes stay warm this winter despite the reduction in natural gas flows from Russia amid the war in Ukraine.

The government has already announced numerous measures including the import of liquefied natural gas from other suppliers, while urging citizens to conserve as much energy as possible.

But there were concerns that Germany's power grid, which is central to the European network, could be heavily strained if consumers switch to electric heaters in the winter and strong demand from neighboring countries means energy exports rise.

Germany's opposition parties have called for the country's nuclear plants to be kept online, with some lawmakers also suggesting shuttered ones be reopened and new reactors built. Some members of a small pro-business party that's part of the governing coalition have argued in favor of running all three remaining reactors for as long as possible.

Economy and Energy Minister Robert Habeck, a member of the environmentalist Greens party that has long been opposed to nuclear power, acknowledged that several factors could come together to place a severe strain on the continent's grid this winter. These include problems with France's nuclear power plants, drought hampering hydropower generation in the Alps and Norway, and problems shipping coal across Europe due to low water levels in rivers.

"We can't rely securely on there being enough power plants available to stabilize the electricity network in the short term if there are grid shortages in our neighboring countries," he said.

Grid operators examined what would occur in a worst-case scenario, where a harsh winter coincides with an unexpected shutdown of French nuclear plants and a sharp rise in electricity demand. The projected result was hours-long blackouts for millions of Germans as transmission lines struggle to cope with required electricity flows.

To help prevent this from happening, Germany will keep two reactors - Isar 2 in Bavaria and Neckarwestheim north of Stuttgart - on standby until mid-April next year, Habeck said. A third plant, Emsland near the Dutch border, will be powered down as planned in December.

Opposition lawmaker Jens Spahn of the center-right Christian Democrats accused Habeck of being driven by anti-nuclear ideology, noting that the Emsland plant is located in a state that's holding regional elections next month.

Environmentalists, meanwhile, warned the government not to renege on its promise to phase out nuclear power by leaving the door open for an extension of the plants' operating life.

Habeck insisted there would be no long-term reversal in Germany's commitment to end nuclear power.

"The nuclear plants won't be equipped with new fuel rods," he said. "There will be no decision to build new atomic power plants. That would be absurd because this technology - look to France - is part of the problem."

Habeck also said Russian gas is no longer a factor in Germany's energy calculations, and that it was no surprise Russia's state-controlled energy giant Gazprom didn't resume supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline after halting them for maintenance last week.

"The only thing one can rely on from Russia is lies," he said.

Measures taken by the government in recent months, including the painful decision to reactivate some coal-fired power plants, would ensure Germany has enough energy to get through the winter, said Habeck.

"Maybe not all of those in positions of responsibility can do so, but the German population can sleep deeply and easily," he said.

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Germany sticks to nuclear power deadline but leaves loophole

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BERLIN (AP) - Germany is sticking to its long-held plan of shutting down the country's three remaining nuclear power plants this year but keeping the option of reactivating two of them in case of an energy shortage in the coming months, officials said Monday.

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750 million+ members | Manage your professional identity. Build and engage with your professional network. Access knowledge, insights and opportunities.

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EU Nations Struggle to Find Joint Approach on Energy Prices

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EU Nations Struggle to Find Joint Approach on Energy Prices

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As EU states continue to struggle to combat increasing energy crisis.

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EU nations struggle to find joint approach on energy prices

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BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union nations struggled to find full consensus Friday on ways to shield the population from dramatically increasing energy prices that threaten to plunge millions into cold and poverty over the winter as Russia chokes off natural gas supplies.

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RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Europeans have a tough winter ahead. Rising inflation is biting into family budgets. The continent's been hit hard by drought. And the price of gas used to generate electricity and heating is just going up and up. Three of our correspondents have been looking into all this and what governments there are trying to do to help. Willem Marx is a reporter based in London. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley joins us this morning from Paris. And NPR's Rob Schmitz is in Berlin. Welcome to all of you.

ROB SCHMITZ, BYLINE: Good morning.

WILLEM MARX: Hey.

MARTIN: Rob, I want to start with you. Until the war in Ukraine, Germany was the country in Europe that was most dependent on Russian gas. What's the situation there as winter approaches?

SCHMITZ: Yeah. Before Russia's war in Ukraine, Germany depended on Russia for around 55% of its natural gas. But as of this month, Germany has been able to reduce that dependency to less than 10%. And it's done that by buying gas from Norway and the Netherlands, as well as by reducing its own gas use. Now, that's the good news for Germany. The bad news is that the price of gas has quadrupled from a year ago. And starting in October, all Germans will be required to pay more for their home gas use through a new gas levy. And the purpose of that is to ensure that the country's power companies don't go bankrupt. But many Germans are angry about this. We spoke to retired teacher Ulrike Steinke at a local market, and she complained about having to pay for this.

ULRIKE STEINKE: (Speaking German).

SCHMITZ: And, Rachel, she's saying here that she understands the energy companies need help, but at the end of the day, she says, they make their profits and line their pockets, while the middle and lower classes lose out. And there's a fierce debate inside of Germany's Parliament at the moment about this very concern.

MARTIN: OK. So let's pivot a bit. Eleanor, you're in Paris. Are things as bad there as they are in Germany?

ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: Well, no, they're not, because France does not rely as heavily on Russian gas as, say, Germany or Italy. It uses its own nuclear power to provide about 70% of its electricity needs. And the French government has also really stepped in to protect households. It froze gas prices - energy prices last November 2021 for consumers. And the state is so far paying the difference. This is called the tariff shield. So unlike in Germany and other countries, consumers for now aren't paying more. But of course, that's kicking the can down the road, eventually putting the burden on taxpayers. Still, electricity prices are expected to soar to their highest level ever. And the government has warned that France and Europe will be in trouble if Russia completely cuts off the spigots this winter because Europe will not have enough gas. And the only way to head off such a crisis and forced rationing for businesses, says the government, is to massively conserve energy. They're unveiling a plan this week, a sobriety plan for French companies.

But, you know, there's also a realization that it's not just about conserving energy this winter. The horrible drought, heat and forest fires of the summer have been a wake-up call to Europeans that the destruction of climate change is already here. And that, combined with Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine, has only emphasized the need to get off Russian fossil fuels and transition to other cleaner energies as soon as possible.

MARTIN: OK. So, Willem, the U.K. is no longer in the EU. It doesn't get its gas from Russia. What are energy prices there doing?

MARX: Well, they're tracking the global price, so they're going up. In fact, just over the past week, the U.K. regulators announced unprecedented household price rises of 80%. That will kick in as of October. They're predicted to rise a further 75% by next summer. I talked about the consequence of this with Dan Paskins. He's the director of U.K. impact for the charity Save the Children. Here's what he had to say.

DAN PASKINS: The overall hit on family incomes is bigger than any in the U.K. since records began in terms of what's happening this year and next year. So it's something kind of without precedent.

MARX: And he pointed out that Save the Children works around the world in some very impoverished places. They're used to seeing these kinds of conditions elsewhere. But the group has not seen this kind of situation in parts of Britain for a very, very long time.

MARTIN: I mean, I don't get how consumers are going to deal with that. What's the plan from the British government?

MARX: Well, part of the problem, Rachel, is there's been kind of a zombie government in place the last couple of months, unwilling to make major spending decisions until a new conservative party leader is put in place to replace the outgoing prime minister, Boris Johnson. The foreign minister, Liz Truss, she's the favorite among the two remaining candidates. She said during the leadership campaign this summer that she'll reduce some extra taxes applied to fuel costs, which were designed to subsidize renewable energy sources. And she'll also reverse a recent rise in the U.K. equivalent of Social Security. But these are, I should emphasize, campaign comments, so she could well change her approach if she takes office. And that's expected to happen next week.

MARTIN: Rob, if you could pull back from Germany a bit, how is the EU thinking about this? I mean, what's the best strategy for the European Union when it comes to weaning itself off Russian energy?

SCHMITZ: They're worried about this. The European Union's energy ministers will hold an emergency meeting on September 9 to talk about this. In July, the EU introduced a plan to cut natural gas by 15% to lessen its members' dependence on Russia. There are concerns that Russia will cut off the flow of gas this coming winter as payback for EU sanctions. We've already seen Russia decrease gas flows and key pipelines to Europe. The latest example was this week when it cut off gas to both France and Germany. The industry and trade minister for the Czech Republic said on Twitter that the EU is now in an energy war with Russia, and it needs to take coordinated action to prevent damage.

MARTIN: Eleanor, you were at this conference this week, I understand, with European business leaders. How is the private sector thinking about this?

BEARDSLEY: Yeah. Well, of course, they're still concerned about their bottom line and energy costs rising. But this year - you know, I go every year - there was a different tone at this meeting, a real sense of urgency and the importance of European solidarity in this war with Russia that includes the energy sector. So business leaders told me the stakes are huge. They said, you know, it's about democracy and sovereignty in Europe. I was actually sitting next to Luis Antunes, the CEO of an energy consulting firm, as the opening speaker of this business forum, who was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy - by video link from Kyiv - as he wrapped up and he was given a standing ovation. And you can hear it here.

(APPLAUSE)

LUIS ANTUNES: (Speaking French).

BEARDSLEY: So, yeah, so he said, magnificent. You know, after listening to Zelenskyy, a clearly moved Antunes told me that Ukraine is committed to democracy, human rights and freedom, and Europe must stand by Ukraine. And he said Russia's war and autocratic government actually pose a bigger threat to European companies than rising energy prices do.

MARTIN: NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reporting from Paris, Rob Schmitz in Berlin and reporter Willem Marx in London, thanks to all of you.

BEARDSLEY: Thank you, Rachel.

SCHMITZ: Thank you.

MARX: Thank you.

Copyright © 2022 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio record.

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Europeans brace for a rough winter with surging gas prices

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RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: Europeans have a tough winter ahead. Rising inflation is biting into family budgets. The continent's been hit hard by drought. And the price of gas used to generate electricity and heating is just going up and up. Three of our correspondents have been looking into all this and what governments there are trying to do to help.

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Historically Germany has been very opposed to utilizing nuclear power. However this NY Times article looks more at how the strain put on by the natural gas shortage could effect Germany's stance on this issue as well impact the future of renewable energy in Germany.

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For three decades, nuclear power was one of Germany's most divisive debates. But with Russia cutting gas, Germans are revisiting their political energy taboos.

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The German village of Wattenbacherau, at the foot of the Isar 2 nuclear power plant. Credit... Laetitia Vancon for The New York Times

LANDSHUT, Germany - When Angela Merkel pulled the plug on nuclear power after the Fukushima meltdown, she put Germany back on course to become the only leading industrial nation to abandon atomic energy in the world. The economic engine of Europe planned instead to fuel itself through a transition to renewable energies with cheap Russian gas.

Now, 11 years later, with Russia toying with Germany's gas supply, her successor, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has modeled himself in Ms. Merkel's image, is staring at the possibility of reversing that momentous decision.

Europe's geopolitical calculations have been turned upside down by the war in Ukraine. It has created an energy crisis that comes at a critical moment for Germany and Europe's ambitions to become global leaders in the transition to climate neutrality. Instead, as Russia tightens the taps, coal plants are being refired across Europe, and nuclear energy is getting a second look as many on the continent wrangle over whether to sacrifice their sacred cows.

The European Parliament recently took the much-contested step of classifying some gas and nuclear power as "green." In the Netherlands, gas fracking is up for reconsideration. In Belgium, like Germany, the debate has turned to keeping nuclear plants running, something unthinkable just months ago.

Running the last three nuclear plants in Germany past their decommissioning date of Dec. 31, 2022, he said, "can make sense" given the energy crisis the war has precipitated. Any such move, he insisted, would not be decided by his government but rather by a series of stress tests on the German power system to see whether the plants would be needed and if they would be able to run safely past their shutdown date.

In part, Mr. Scholz is responding to a growing sense among Germans - according to recent polls, now over 80 percent - that they must re-evaluate the subject that led to some of the most emotional and divisive debates their country has grappled with since reunification.

"This is painful for all of us," she said, as she worked in her darkened office to save electricity. "But we are also under the shadow of this war in Ukraine."

That admission is probably harder for politicians like Ms. Steinberger than those from any other German party: She is from the Greens who now share power with Mr. Scholz's Social Democrats in Berlin. The Greens have their roots not only in Germany's environmental movement, but also in its grass-roots antinuclear protests, where the police clashed with activists, who sometimes chained themselves to the gates of nuclear plants.

Annalena Baerbock, the Green foreign minister, grew up going to such demonstrations, where human chains were formed in protest of nuclear plants. Even as many in her party begin to accept what looks inevitable, Ms. Baerbock insisted on Wednesday that she still believed an extension of nuclear power was "not an option."

It is an irony of politics that it was Ms. Merkel who became the poster child for Germany's "nuclear exit." Her Christian Democrats were long proponents of nuclear power, and her government fought to extend the life of nuclear power after a previous left-leaning government sought to shut it down. She defended that move by arguing atomic energy was the "bridging technology" paving the way toward a renewable energy system in Germany - the same language her party later used to defend the shift to gas.

But the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in 2011 forced her into a U-turn, after her party faced a catastrophic loss in regional elections to the Greens, who campaigned against nuclear power. Germans, long split over nuclear issues, had shifted against atomic energy, and Ms. Merkel soon took seven of Germany's 17 nuclear power plants offline.

"It's as if the pope were suddenly advocating the use of birth control pills," the German magazine Der Spiegel wrote at the time.

For years, despite bemusement of many outside Germany, the country seemed set on that course. This year, as Europe began its sanctions on Russian fossil fuels, Germany's Green energy minister seemed more willing to turn on carbon intensive coal plants rather than reopening the issue of nuclear power.

Mr. Scholz took a similar line - only weeks ago, he was still telling reporters that any reversal on the nuclear power exit was not possible.

Now, the chancellor is facing a decision to keep plants on that many argue is as political as Ms. Merkel's move to switch them off.

There are only three plants still operating in Germany, accounting for around 6 percent of Germany's electricity supply. For Germans, nuclear power became wrapped up with Cold War fears that their nation, on the front line of Europe's Iron Curtain and divided between the U.S.- and Soviet-backed governments, could become the ground zero of nuclear annihilation.

Germans of that era grew up reading "The Last Children of Schewenborn," a novel about the aftermath of a nuclear war. Today's generation watches Germany's Netflix thriller "Dark," which takes place in a town that lives in the ominous shadow of a nuclear plant.

He is unfazed by the fact that the plant has not had a comprehensive inspection since 2009 - something commonly cited by opponents as a safety risk. "They do safety inspections every two months," Mr. Königsbauer said. "It is safe."

Kathy Mühlebach-Sturm, a representative of the BUND environmental group in the same district, said she understood why many people were puzzled by some Germans' anxieties about nuclear power. "But I look at it the other way around," she said. "I understand the fear. What I can't understand is the lack of it."

Like most Bavarians, recollections of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear meltdown in Ukraine are seared in her mind. The disaster created a cloud of radioactive fallout that rained down on parts of Germany - and now, fighting around nuclear plants in Ukraine gives such memories a new potency.

She recalled how she and other parents frantically changed the sand in children's sandboxes, and drove hundreds of kilometers to buy milk from dairy farmers whose cows fed on hay harvested before the contaminated rains.

Opponents to nuclear power's extension in Germany argue that on top of the emotional resonance, the plants will have only a minimal impact on Germany's energy crisis.

Nuclear power goes mostly to electricity, while gas imports are used for heating German homes and for heating processes critical to German industry.

"That is only 1 percent of the shortfall that we need to compensate for because of the lack of Russian imports," said Simon Müller, a director of Agora Energiewende, a think tank promoting the transition to renewable energy.

Yet Mr. Müller said keeping the plants on may still make sense - not for Germany, but for Europe. Because European states often share electricity, nuclear power plant outages in France may in fact become a valid reason, he said, for keeping nuclear power on in Germany, even though it would only be a drop in the bucket of what France might need.

In contrast to Germany, France gets about 70 percent of its electricity from its aging nuclear fleet of reactors, more than any other country. The government is now renationalizing its electricity giant and will spend 51.7 billion euros to build up to 14 next-generation reactors by 2035.

Today, the former engineer said his understanding of modern nuclear plant safety left him with no anxieties about living just a short drive away from the Isar 2 plant, which sits on the banks of the Isar river.

He feels a sense of absurdity in the debate, given that Europe's electricity sharing could most likely mean buying nuclear-produced power from neighboring countries like France or the Czech Republic, where a disaster could hurt Germans as much as an accident in their own country.

"I completely understand people, and I'd rather we didn't have to do it," he said of extending the life of Germany's own reactors. "It's just that we are in a crisis."

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Facing Energy Crisis, Germans, Warily, Give Nuclear a Second Look

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For three decades, nuclear power was one of Germany's most divisive debates. But with Russia cutting gas, Germans are revisiting their political energy taboos. Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share.

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Germany Won't Set Speed Limit for Autoban Despite Energy Crisis

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Germany Won't Set Speed Limit for Autoban Despite Energy Crisis

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New York Times author is a writer in Berlin.

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Putting general restrictions on the country's storied highways is a simple step to save energy, carbon emissions and lives. But even with the Greens in power, the country is unlikely to take it.

Send any friend a story
As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share.

Many of Germany's autobahns have no speed limits. The German Environment Ministry found that adding restrictions could save 2.1 billion liters of fuel each year. Credit... Focke Strangmann/EPA, via Shutterstock

BERLIN - Germany is trying any range of measures to combat an energy crisis that is only expected to worsen this winter. Public buildings can be heated to just 66 degrees and most private pools not at all. Starting this month, billboards and other landmarks go dark at 10 p.m. The government has even extended the lives of two of the country's last nuclear reactors.

But the one thing Germany will not do, apparently, is put a general speed limit on the fabled autobahns, a proposal raised - and shot down - even though it could save gasoline and cut carbon dioxide emissions.

A vow of no general speed limits on autobahns was even part of the agreement that allowed the current three-party coalition, which includes the environmentalist Greens as well as the libertarian-minded Free Democratic Party, to take power.

"The F.D.P. has made this into an issue of identity," said Wolfgang Schroeder, a political science professor at the University of Kassel, in central Germany, who studies the coalition. "They've said, 'We are the party of drivers and freedom, and we don't want any state interference.'"

Still, the mood on speed restrictions has been shifting over the past two decades, with the current oil crisis seeming to accelerate the change, at least perhaps in the public mind, if not in the political class.

In April, two months after Russia attacked Ukraine and as Germany tried to reduce its energy dependence on Russia, Ricarda Lang, co-leader of the Greens, proposed a temporary speed limit to help save gasoline.

The German Environment Ministry found that if a speed limit of 100 kilometers per hour, about 62 miles per hour, were put in place on the autobahns, with an 80 k.p.h. limit on other roads, Germany's 48 million automobiles could save 2.1 billion liters of fuel every year.

If drivers actually kept to that speed, 5.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions could be saved, about 3 percent of all CO2 emitted from transportation. If drivers kept to a speed limit of 130 k.p.h., or 80 m.p.h. - a more realistic limit - the savings would drop to 1.9 million metric tons, or just above 1 percent of total transportation emissions.

Currently, about 30 percent of the autobahn system has permanent restrictions. Other sections have temporary limits linked to construction work.

In 2020, the A.D.A.C, a nearly 120-year-old automobile club in Germany with more than 20 million members, stopped lobbying against limits. Surveys of their members found that, for the first time in nearly three decades, most were no longer opposed to a limit.

"It's pretty straightforward: Society is changing, and with it, the A.D.A.C.," Katrin van Randenborgh, a spokeswoman for the club, said.

Another part of the debate involves accidents. Even though the autobahn is lauded for its safety when compared with other highways, official figures show that where the autobahn has no speed restrictions, there are 75 percent more accidents involving a death than on stretches that have speed limits.

Nonetheless, Bernd Reuther, a traffic expert for the Free Democratic Party, defended the status quo. "We rely on people's sense of responsibility, and we don't want to regulate," he said.

With the coalition agreement cementing no new speed limits, Mr. Reuther and the F.D.P. say that they feel the issue is settled, at least until the next government.

Putting speed limits in place would be an easy, if modest, step toward helping get to the country's emission goals, according to Swantje Henrike Michaelsen, a Green lawmaker and member of the parliamentary traffic committee. But, she said, "It's become this glaring symbol in politics."

Her party had chosen to focus "on the progress we can make together," rather than push the divisive issue, she added.

With the dominant member of the coalition, the Social Democratic Party, playing more of a mediator role, things look set to remain as they are. "It is a kind of nonaggression pact that we are seeing among the members of the coalition that is especially important when it comes to ideological positions," Professor Schroeder, the political scientist, said.

As the energy crisis worsens, the speed limit issue could cause tension within the coalition, but it is unlikely to break it, experts say, especially since other measures can do more to save emissions, like concrete steps to reduce emissions that are being discussed as part of budget negotiations this week in parliament.

For the Free Democratic Party, speed-limit-free driving is an important issue for its base, which skews wealthy, well-educated and privileged. As the smallest coalition partner, the party is the most vulnerable governing member, and, political analysts say, that means it has to be especially careful about giving up its positions, no matter how symbolic.

"The F.D.P. will do everything in its power to stay visible in this coalition," said Uwe Jun, a professor in political science at Trier university, in western Germany.

The Greens, by contrast, are polling at 22 percent and - if nothing changes drastically in the next three years - have a good chance of ending up in the next government, where they might be expected to take a more assertive stance on the issue of speed limits.

For now, probably, nothing will change.

Considering the difficulties, "Is it worth playing up such a clearly symbolic question?" Professor Jun asked. "Is it worth making it so important?"

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In Energy Crunch, Germany Turns Down Heat but Won't Limit Autobahn Speeds

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Putting general restrictions on the country's storied highways is a simple step to save energy, carbon emissions and lives. But even with the Greens in power, the country is unlikely to take it. Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month.

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Germany 🇩🇪 

Mass protest against the German government’s sanctions against Russia which is causing an energy crisis in Germany. 

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Germany 🇩🇪 

Mass protest against the German government’s sanctions against Russia which is causing an energy crisis in Germany. 

https://t.co/Dy5Ork3IH5

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Germany 🇩🇪

Mass protest against the German government’s sanctions against Russia which is causing an energy crisis in Germany. pic.twitter.com/Dy5Ork3IH5
— James Melville (@JamesMelville) September 6, 2022

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Germany 🇩🇪 

Mass protest against the German government’s sanctions against Russia which is causing an energy crisis in Germany. 

https://t.co/Dy5Ork3IH5

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.original_text
Germany 🇩🇪 

Mass protest against the German government’s sanctions against Russia which is causing an energy crisis in Germany. 

https://t.co/Dy5Ork3IH5

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Germany 🇩🇪 

Mass protest against the German government’s sanctions against Russia which is causing an energy crisis in Germany. 

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Germany Has the Most Expensive Electricity

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Germany Has the Most Expensive Electricity

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This is from a German Newspaper in Berlin, discusses the expensive of electricity in German compared to other European States.

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Last year, households that consumed 1,200 kilowatt hours paid 34.30 cents per kilowatt hour, up from 33.49 cents in 2019.

dpa/Federico Gambarini

Berlin-For the second year in a row, consumers in Germany paid the most for electricity Europe-wide.

Germany took over the lead from Denmark in 2019, but prices rose further in 2020, according to the figures from the Federal Statistics Office, which were made available to the Funke Mediengruppe on Monday following a request by the Die Linke parliamentary group in the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament.

According to the data, small households using 1,200 kilowatt hours power paid 34.30 cents per kilowatt hour last year, up from 33.49 cents in 2019. Prices also increased for larger households with an annual consumption of 3,500 kilowatt hours. They paid an average of 30.43 cents per kilowatt hour, up from 29.83 cents the previous year.

Average power costs down in the EU

According to Germany's statistics office, average electricity prices in Europe fell last year. In the euro zone they were down by 0.53 cents to 22.47 cents per kilowatt hour. In the 27 EU countries cost of a kilowatt hour fell by by 0.51 cents to 21.26 cents.

"Germany is the European champion when it comes to electricity prices. They're unacceptably high and must fall significantly," Dietmar Bartsch, leader of Die Linke in the Bundestag, told the Funke newspaper group.

The electricity tax must be abolished for private households and the EEG renewable energy levy fundamentally reformed, he demanded. "Electricity and energy must not become a luxury good."
More Berlin news in English.

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Germany has the most expensive electricity in Europe

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Last year, households that consumed 1,200 kilowatt hours paid 34.30 cents per kilowatt hour, up from 33.49 cents in 2019. dpa/Federico Gambarini Berlin-For the second year in a row, consumers in Germany paid the most for electricity Europe-wide.

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OAN- Europe burns cash to help businesses in deepening energy crisis

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OAN- Europe burns cash to help businesses in deepening energy crisis

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This right leaning news source that is also lower on the fact source part of the media bias chart highlighted the other side of US political takes on this topic. Some notable features of the article include there being no date and having a less objective title.

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Europe burns cash to help businesses in deepening energy crisis

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By Kirsti Knolle and Paul Sandle BERLIN/LONDON (Reuters) -Germany nationalised gas importer Uniper on Wednesday and Britain said it would halve energy bills for businesses in response to a deepening energy crisis that has exposed Europe's reliance on Russian fuel.

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AlterNet- 'Collective action or collective suicide': UN Chief pleads for climate solutions as millions roast ...

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AlterNet- 'Collective action or collective suicide': UN Chief pleads for climate solutions as millions roast ...

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This is a left leaning news source lower on the credibility portion of the media bias chart. Notable features included a more opinionated title and language which effected the tone of the piece.

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Governments can either come up with a collaborative and urgent plan to tackle the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency that is already wreaking deadly havoc across the globe or keep allowing corporations to pollute the atmosphere without limit, thereby condemning humanity to a grim future.

That stark warning comes from United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, who said Monday: "We have a choice. Collective action or collective suicide."

"It is in our hands," he told diplomats from 40 countries gathered in Berlin for a three-day conference called the Petersberg Climate Dialogue. The meeting, hosted annually for the past 13 years by the German government, marks one of the last chances to work out an international agenda for mitigation, adaptation, and compensation before the U.N.'s COP27 climate summit kicks off in Egypt this November.

At the conclusion of COP26 eight months ago, Guterres noted, the Paris agreement's goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5ºC above preindustrial levels was left "on life support."

"Since then, its pulse has weakened further," he continued. "Greenhouse gas concentrations, sea level rise, and ocean heat have broken new records."

"Half of humanity is in the danger zone from floods, droughts, extreme storms, and wildfires," Guterres pointed out. "No nation is immune."

The U.N. chief's latest warning comes as large swaths of the planet are being pummeled by heatwaves and wildfires, with no immediate respite in sight-at around 1.2ºC of warming.

Extreme heat has killed more than 1,000 people in Portugal and Spain in recent days, and France is experiencing what experts are calling a "heat apocalypse." Thousands of people in the region have been forced to evacuate due to wildfires. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom is bracing for its hottest day on record, with temperatures expected to climb even higher on Tuesday.

It's not just Europe that is being seared. The United States, China, and parts of Africa and the Middle East are also suffering from heatwaves and wildfires, which climate scientists have long warned will increase in frequency and severity as a result of unmitigated greenhouse gas pollution.

And yet, "we continue to feed our fossil fuel addiction," Guterres lamented Monday. Global energy market disruptions triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine have led many nations to double down on coal, gas, and oil extraction at a moment when investments in a swift green transition are sorely needed.

Most troubling of all, said Guterres, is that governments of the world "are failing to work together as a multilateral community."

"Nations continue to play the blame game instead of taking responsibility for our collective future," he said. "We cannot continue this way. We must rebuild trust and come together-to keep 1.5 alive and to build climate-resilient communities."

Emphasizing that "time is no longer on our side," Guterres said that "we need to move forward together on all fronts," referring to mitigation, adaptation, and financial support for climate-related damages and losses. The latter is a long-standing demand -made by many poorer nations that have contributed the least to the problem but are already bearing the brunt of its consequences-for more green funding from richer nations most responsible for planet-heating pollution.

"First, we need to reduce emissions-now," Guterres stressed. "Everyone needs to revisit their Nationally Determined Contributions," he continued, referring to currently inadequate and nonbinding emission reduction targets. "We need to demonstrate at COP27 that a renewables revolution is underway. There is enormous potential for a just energy transition that accelerates coal phase-out with a corresponding deployment of renewables."

"Second, we must treat adaptation with the urgency it needs," he said. "One in three people lack early warning systems coverage. People in Africa, South Asia, and Central and South America are fifteen times more likely to die from extreme weather events. This great injustice cannot persist."

"Third, let's get serious about the finance that developing countries need," he added.

While wealthy governments originally vowed to contribute $100 billion annually by 2020 to help low-income nations switch to sustainable energy sources and improve infrastructure, they have missed that target, which is already far less than the $4 trillion the World Bank says is necessary. Just $80 billion is expected this year, with the $100 billion pledge now postponed until 2023.

In addition to redistributive investments in mitigation and adaptation, the provision of more money to address the mounting losses and damages from a rapidly changing climate and increasingly frequent and intense extreme weather disasters "has languished on the sidelines for too long," said Guterres. "It is eroding the trust we need to tackle the climate emergency together."

"We need a concrete global response that addresses the needs of the world's most vulnerable people, communities, and nations," he added. "This has to be the decade of decisive climate action."

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'Collective action or collective suicide': UN Chief pleads for climate solutions as millions roast

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Governments can either come up with a collaborative and urgent plan to tackle the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency that is already wreaking deadly havoc across the globe or keep allowing corporations to pollute the atmosphere without limit, thereby condemning humanity to a grim future.That stark...