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Angela Merkel’s record on environmental policy has been a disaster

theguardian.com

121–130 of 150 posts

Re: Angela Merkel’s record on environmental policy has been a disaster

#121

I fail to understand why German automotive industry is lobbing pro diesels. All German car makers make both gasoline and diesel engines, if diesels were banned or taxed to be more expensive customers wouldn't resign from buying cars but would choose some other available option (gasoline, hybrid, electric).

They lobbied against safety belts, catalytic filters and a lot of other stuff. They can safely be ignored and usually they are pretty good at adapting to new conditions.

Re: Angela Merkel’s record on environmental policy has been a disaster

#123
post #6

Germany'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.

> Germany's generous subsidy and build out of solar, while solar was still really expensive, was key in driving the cost down

You wanted to say China, didn't you.

Re: Angela Merkel’s record on environmental policy has been a disaster

#124
post #119
post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It means their design is flawed, cannot be fixed and likely would not pass muster if proposed today. Whether or not you consider this a severe enough deficit to necessitate a shutdown is a matter of policy. As to any operation record, just keep in mind that the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant had one dating back to 1971.

I don't make policy. Policy, however, involves risk management. If deficient plants have been operated successfully for this long, the implication to me is that their operators have proven responsible enough to handle it.

If deficient plants have been operated successfully for this long, the implication to me is that their operators have proven responsible enough to handle it.

A lack of air bags is not noticable until your car crashes.

Re: Angela Merkel’s record on environmental policy has been a disaster

#125
post #6

Germany'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.

From what I’ve read over the past few years, China gets the credit for driving down the price of solar. They use a lot more than anyone else: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_by_country China is saving nuclear power too: https://qz.com/627113/bill-gates-says-china-is-the-best-plac...

Ahh, darnit. I was too late, but I had the same comment basically.

Re: Angela Merkel’s record on environmental policy has been a disaster

#126
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's actually the opposite of the perception of Angela Merkel in Germany. In Germany she is seen as populist, because she changes her mind quite often or waits until the public opinion is clear. Only in the refugee crisis, she was seen as following moral principles having not made any concessions to right wing politics (which earned her a lot of respect and a lot of hate). Make no mistake, generally her team is ver…

Merkel perceived as populist in Germany? I've heard a lot about Merkel but this is new. Do you have a poll or anything to show this is really the case and not just your (or your friends/relatives) opinion? Who of Germany's politicians would you call then less of a populist?

I'm from Germany and germans see politics and also populism here is a bit different. I think it's a way of viewing it.

Re: Angela Merkel’s record on environmental policy has been a disaster

#127
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's actually the opposite of the perception of Angela Merkel in Germany. In Germany she is seen as populist, because she changes her mind quite often or waits until the public opinion is clear. Only in the refugee crisis, she was seen as following moral principles having not made any concessions to right wing politics (which earned her a lot of respect and a lot of hate). Make no mistake, generally her team is ver…

> she was seen as following moral principles having not made any concessions to right wing politics Well, Bavarians might disagree with both "moral principles" and "right wing". Especially CDU is hardly "right wing".

The CDU is extremely fiscally conservative (see Schaeuble's black zero project) and very socially conservative (anti-gay-marriage, anti-drug-legalisation, pro-surveillance compared to the average view of the population).

It is rather right wing in a global context. If you don't think they are right wing, you might want to recalibrate your views of what you think of "centrist".

Re: Angela Merkel’s record on environmental policy has been a disaster

#128
post #6

Germany'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.

From what I’ve read over the past few years, China gets the credit for driving down the price of solar. They use a lot more than anyone else: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_by_country China is saving nuclear power too: https://qz.com/627113/bill-gates-says-china-is-the-best-plac...

Yes the current prices are thanks to mass production in china, but he is saying that germany started to invest into the solar boom when prices where still high and without the boom might not have happened (that fast). E.g. in 2009 germany had 10GW [0] installed versus chinas 300MW [1]. But new solar installs peaked in germany at about 7.5GW over the next 3 years, among other reasons because germany does get significantly less sunlight.

[0] https://energy-charts.de/power_inst.htm?year=all&period=annu... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:China_Photovoltaics_Insta...

Re: Angela Merkel’s record on environmental policy has been a disaster

#129
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Closing all of the Nuclear power plants after Fukushima was a bit of a dumb reactionary move. It's shifted power generation from emission free Nuclear to dirty emission heavy coal, which emits more radioactive Uranium into the atmosphere than a Nuclear plant (or so I am led to believe). It's basically paying lip-service to being environmentally friendly so that you can feel good about yourself while doing nothing pro…

> Closing all of the Nuclear power plants after Fukushima was a bit of a dumb reactionary move. It's shifted power generation from emission free Nuclear to dirty emission heavy coal There was a plan in place since 2002 to shut down all nuclear plants by about 2020 (plus/minus some, since the criteria was amount of power emitted per plant). That plan was cancelled in 2010 by Merkel, replaced by a more generous plan (d…

Why was that the plan initially? I'm not up on the history of this one.

Re: Angela Merkel’s record on environmental policy has been a disaster

#130
post #104
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Living in Baden-Württemberg is probably the reason. Green is the strongest party there (2016 30%). They are ahead of CDU (Merkels party) for two periods now.

Yes, that's why I claim it's a local thing :)

Fair enough, the point I was trying to make is that it's more than just Merkel + some lobbying, and that this article is badly written and mostly rubbish.
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