Lutzerath, Germany — For months, die-hard environmentalists have camped and occupied trees in this small rural field in western Germany. I hope that like-minded people will come from all over the country to help stop the expansion of nearby forests. An open pit coal mine threatens to swallow the village and its farms.
They had reason to be optimistic. Massive protests prompted the German government to step in and save the primeval forests from coal expansion. He was exactly two years ago. The Greens also had their best results in last year’s elections. This shows how the fight against climate change has become a victorious political issue in Europe’s largest economy.
“If there were 50,000 people on the streets, politicians would have to do something.
However, the expected surge of protesters did not materialize. And last week the government decided to change the fate of Lützerath by announcing that Germany’s largest energy company, RWE, needed coal under the village to make up for gas that had stopped flowing in from Russia. effectively sealed.
The war in Ukraine and the imminent prospect of Russia running out of cheap fuel in the winter have cooled German enthusiasm for greener policies, at least for now. It was a sudden setback, and for some, a difficult setback, for a country that committed to moving completely coal-free by 2030.
“Putin’s war of aggression has forced us to temporarily increase the use of lignite and conserve gas for power generation,” said Robert Habeck, Germany’s economy minister and former leader of the Green Party. said like this. village. “This is painful, but necessary given the gas shortage.”
Russia used to supply more than half of Germany’s gas imports, which was a major source of heating fuel. That flow was cut off after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine set off a chain reaction of European sanctions and Russian countermeasures. From the beginning of the war, the German government knew it would need to compete for fuel to survive the coming winter.
In June, Habaek announced the restart of some coal-fired power plants. It’s bittersweet medicine after the Greens succeeded in getting the new government to accelerate its exit from coal by eight years just a few months ago. When a drought this summer slowed coal transportation on the river and exacerbated energy insecurity, the government prioritized freight trains carrying coal and other fuels over passenger trains.
Yet so far, there has been little public backlash.
A poll this summer found that 56% of Germans were in favor of restarting coal-fired power plants, while only 36% were against. This contrasts with a 2019 poll of 73% of the population who favored quitting coal “as soon as possible.”
One reason for the absence of protesters in Lützerath may be that many are wary of fighting a losing battle.
“I hear from a lot of people that they can’t face it,” said Cornelia Senne, a theologian who held an overnight service at Huekamp’s doorstep. “Some people just can’t bear to see another catastrophe unfold because it’s all going on.”
In late September, tens of thousands of climate change activists marched in cities across Germany, but their demands were mostly directed at issues such as climate justice and accessible public transport for developing countries. It was not the end of coal in Germany.
Since the beginning of the crisis, Germany’s coal power has increased by nearly 5%. Coal now accounts for almost a third of all electricity produced in Germany.
Much of that coal comes from sites like the RWE-owned Garzweiler mine near Lützerath, where some of the world’s largest excavators operate continuously in a sprawling 12-square-mile pit. I’m here.
For decades, when coal was a way of life in much of Germany, residents of communities like Lützerath moved away when state governments struck deals with energy companies like RWE. We accepted the inevitability of coal mining, including the legal requirement to give way. Since World War II, about 300 German villages have been destroyed for coal underneath.
But activists hoped to draw a line in Lützerath, once a village of about 90 people, and justify the fight to save it. Even if they fail, this town may be the last German village to be wiped out due to coal mining.
Even many climate change activists admit that Germany needs to use more so-called “hard coal” this winter. However, they argue that this does not justify the demolition of the Lüzzarat on top of the lignite deposits.
“We are in a schizophrenic situation. We are aiming to leave in 2030, but we still allow RWE to choose lignite in Lützerath.” If so, you don’t need Lützerath coal.”
Energy Expert Calculations Released in August Despite the short-term increase in demand for coal in the Lützerath this winter, it suggests that it is not really needed.
However, German officials have suggested that the rise in coal emissions will be offset by the fact that RWE has agreed to a 2030 coal phase-out date.
Emissions from coal are likely to rise this winter, but Andrzej Ancygier, a Berlin-based analyst at Climate Analysis, says it’s too early to know how much.
Citing weather conditions and the question of when France will be able to restart its gigantic nuclear power plants, Ancizier said: “At the moment, it still doesn’t make sense to crunch the numbers. There are many factors. Because it’s too much,” he said. Started exporting the generated electricity to Germany.
Acygier said the changes to the rules on burning coal would not affect Germany’s long-term progress on renewable energy, which is now a bigger part of Germany’s electricity mix than ever before. I predict it will continue. German parliamentarians in July agreed to a set of new rules to promote renewable energy by making it more profitable for small producers.
But small businesses fear they’ll face bankruptcy before the weather gets warmer, and homes are preparing for power outages when the winter is extremely cold.
Lützerath protesters — balaclava-wearing environmental activists, middle-class residents of nearby towns, and religious groups who recently carried crosses around the village — are exhausted by their efforts. He says he’s there but he’s going to keep fighting.
One activist, who refused to remove his white face covering or give his real name for fear of legal reprisal, has been living in a treehouse in Lützerath since this spring, when the bulldozers finally overran. said he was ready to confront the police. come.
Heukamp stubbornly refused to give in, despite the distant sound of mining machinery, planting crops in the spring and harvesting them in the summer and fall. He harvested the last wheat of the season in August.
But earlier this month, Huekamp finally gave up, packed up his equipment and abandoned the family farm.
Blaming state politics for the decision to proceed with the destruction of his farm, he said: “If they wanted to save this village, they could have done it.”
RWE has not said when the bulldozers will be moved to level the farm left by Huekamp.