Angela Merkel’s record on environmental policy has been a disaster
1–10 of 150 posts
Re: Angela Merkel’s record on environmental policy has been a disaster
#2As a person, she's extremely obstinate. For a leader, this trait can be advantageous - after all, who wants a leader who changes their minds all the time - but for the rest of Europe it's a curse. Somehow she is unable to admit she made some serious mistakes, and we're all suffering because of it.
Re: Angela Merkel’s record on environmental policy has been a disaster
#3Basically Germany will miss the goal of a 40% reduction by 2020 with only reducing CO2 by 30%.
Beside coal/gas power, mostly from closing nuclear power plants. For example a quarter of CO2 emission in Berlin is coming from two Vattenfall coal power plants. Other effects are larger increase in people and economic growth.
I have been buying renewable energy for 15 years, but not many/not enough people in Germany care.
On a positive note renewable energy is 35% in Germany.
Re: Angela Merkel’s record on environmental policy has been a disaster
#4As a person, she's extremely obstinate. For a leader, this trait can be advantageous - after all, who wants a leader who changes their minds all the time - but for the rest of Europe it's a curse. Somehow she is unable to admit she made some serious mistakes, and we're all suffering because of it.
[deleted]
Re: Angela Merkel’s record on environmental policy has been a disaster
#5Very good article. The industry-government nexus in Germany is indeed super powerful and underrated: other countries call it corruption, in Germany is called corporatism.
In the last few years we saw it in action, with important repercussion on the global level: for example, the way the Greek crisis was managed it had to do much more with the safety of German banks, that with the welfare of Greece (https://www.esmt.org/pub/where-did-greek-bailout-money-go).
Re: Angela Merkel’s record on environmental policy has been a disaster
#6Germany's generous subsidy and build out of solar, while solar was still really expensive, was key in driving the cost down which now the whole world benefits from. Huge credit there.
But bio fuels are an unmitigated disaster. Electric ground transportation is the future.
Re: Angela Merkel’s record on environmental policy has been a disaster
#7Yes, she is a nice little sockpuppet for the car-industry and obviously getting what you want as a industry always damaged the industry itself. No innovation, no risk taking, no fast adaption of new tech..
This sort of behaviour opened up a whole industry for disruption, so in a way corrupt politicians are the grave-diggers of old industrys.
Re: Angela Merkel’s record on environmental policy has been a disaster
#8This sounds alarmistic to me.
Diesel emissions are exaggerated. European emission standards set limits for diesel emissions that are just minutely different from gasoline emissions.
American limits for diesels are notorious for being more restrictive than for gas engines.
All of that considered, diesels are plainly more economical and more efficient on pretty much all common engine size ranges
Re: Angela Merkel’s record on environmental policy has been a disaster
#9Germany's generous subsidy and build out of solar, while solar was still really expensive, was key in driving the cost down which now the whole world benefits from. Huge credit there. But bio fuels are an unmitigated disaster. Electric ground transportation is the future.
> Electric ground transportation is the future.
It's a relatively less evil, for now. We still haven't found a good way of dealing with old batteries and it's a huge environmental problem.
Re: Angela Merkel’s record on environmental policy has been a disaster
#10The article voices a bunch of valid criticism, but I really wish it could have done so without turning environmental damage into a contest and using unsubstantiated superlatives. Is it not enough to criticize someone without claiming that they are the worst? The jab at Trump felt misplaced as well.