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

theguardian.com

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

#141

Post by namlem »

dvfjsdhgfv wrote: post #9
marze wrote: 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.

> 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.

Old cells get reused for stationary storage until they degrade even further, at which point they can be recycled.

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

#142

Post by lampenrad »

fogetti wrote: post #123
marze wrote: 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.

No, for a long time Germany was the only significant solar market in the world. German tax payers and individuals spent billions when it was still far from economical, jump starting the whole industry:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-china-is-domi...

>The timeline of China’s rise began in the late 1990s when Germany, overwhelmed by the domestic response to a government incentive program to promote rooftop solar panels, provided the capital, technology and experts to lure China into making solar panels to meet the German demand.

>China, according to Chung, had “dabbled” in solar energy only as a source of electricity to help impoverished rural areas remote from its power grid. But then some of its pioneering companies became intrigued by the income that manufacturing solar panels for export to Germany might bring in.

>China then decided to follow Germany’s lead again, developing its own “feed-in tariff” that paid handsome prices for electricity generated by rooftop solar. The result was a surge in domestic demand for solar.

By PV Watt per capita Germany is still number one by a large margin at 511 (Japan is second with 336, China is at 56).

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

#143

Post by zmix »

gozur88 wrote: post #139
MagnumOpus wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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".

In the US the CDU would be center left.

No, it wouldn't. :)

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

#144

Post by mfukar »

cygx wrote: post #133
mfukar wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but what you're claiming is that air bags are missing based on never having seen them operate.

No, they are missing because the car had been built before the invention of airbags. It's uncontestable that currently operating reactors generally lack certain safety measures we'd have added if we built them today. The question is if we nevertheless deem them 'safe enough'.

> It's uncontestable that currently operating reactors generally lack certain safety measures we'd have added if we built them today.

It is, because it is also a tautology. To me it has no bearing over the point we're discussing.

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

#145

Post by Deadolus »

lispm wrote: post #54
ahartmetz wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is, the Greek system mostly worked, corruption and waste and all, before it entered the Euro area. Cheap credit and no possibility of currency devaluation broke it. The currency union was just very badly thought out. A currency union without a fiscal union is probably a bad idea. That was recognized somewhat by the stability criteria for new members that were then swiftly ignored for various reasons.

> the Greek system mostly worked That's highly debatable and in a changing political landscape there was no future for that. A tiny country next to the EU and a large Eurozone? Greece needed reforms and some (not all) of them were long delayed. That's also the point of the EU and the Eurozone. It provides the framework for the reforms. The largest win for Greece is a stable democracy, after a long phase of political…

Not saying that it would have worked - but there is actually a tiny, tiny country surrounded by the Eurozone - Switzerland. And while surely not everything is perfect there, I think they are doing quite well.

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

#146

Post by _Codemonkeyism »

_Codemonkeyism wrote: post #3

Basically 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.…

But I might add, for some perspective and concerning the "Who’s the world’s leading eco-vandal? It’s Angela Merkel " the US has 67% higher CO2 emissions per capita than Germany, Australia 94% and Qatar 314%.

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

#147

Post by Boothroid »

fhood wrote: post #116
Boothroid wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know why you are getting down voted for this - can only think people don't like having their cosy bubble disturbed.

I don't know, maybe because all he did was spout obnoxious platitudes with zero actual content, but whatever bro, stay woke.

Based, lurk moar.

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

#148

Post by matt4077 »

shangxiao wrote: post #88
matt4077 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The wrong form of the verb 'seem' in that sentence betrays your incredibly dishonest attempt at selective quoting.

By the time I'd realised my mistake I couldn't delete or edit the comment.

Sorry for implying intent above, we all make mistakes. I have spend some time in journalism, and it sometimes gets to me how much that profession is vilified these days, when my experience was that these are the most fair-minded, diligent, and altruistic people I've ever met.

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

#149

Post by dang »

fhood wrote: post #116
Boothroid wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know why you are getting down voted for this - can only think people don't like having their cosy bubble disturbed.

I don't know, maybe because all he did was spout obnoxious platitudes with zero actual content, but whatever bro, stay woke.

This sort of personal+ideological attack will get your account banned on HN, regardless of how wrong someone else is, so would you please read https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and not post like this again?

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

#150

Post by speedplane »

czechdeveloper wrote: post #80
speedplane wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Expensive materials (platinum) and difficulty making them small enough for a car.

Is hydrogen low stability and easy leakage not an issue anymore?

From what I understand, it's handled by well placed fuel tanks, where even if they blow, no on inside the vehicle gets hurt.
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