Channels, Fall 2020

Channels • 20 20 • Volume 5 • Number 1 Page 43 Even disregarding climate protection, the demand for brown coal would not have lasted economically beyond 2038. But as of late, the right-wing populists in the AfD (Alternative for Germany) haven’t missed a single opportunity to decry the supposed betrayal of the coal miners in the East by the aloof politicians of the West. And while job losses in these regions are making big headlines, around 26,000 jobs were lost in 2017 alone in the wind energy sector without so much as a whimper due to the failure of the administration to promote its development in the area. No one is talking about billions of euros for those affected regions. One of most important tasks of our politicians is to accomplish a turnaround in this regard. Germany, one of the strongest industrialized nations in the world, first left nuclear energy behind, and is now also leaving coal. That can only be compensated for by a massive development of wind and solar power, which although loudly called for, is only half- heartedly implemented in practice. There is great fear of angry local citizens who have already managed to hinder the construction of important new energy grids (wind power from the North for industry in the South). Many years ago, the administration characterized the energy transition as th e “moon landing,” but you can only get to the moon when everything works. Without the development of renewable energy, our spaceship is going nowhere. The Administration is the One-Eyed Man among the Blind All the same, there is now a resolution, very likely soon a law, which will regulate the transition away from coal. However, one look at Australia, where the continent is on fire in multiple places, yet the administration peevishly and unapologetically holds on to coal, demonstrates that the German government, with this arduous compromise, is still a one- eyed man among the blind. The tempo of further development of renewable energy must now be accelerated. The politicians must now start a new dialogue with the people in the four affected federal states of Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Brandenburg and Nordrhein-Westfalen, with all their injuries and excitements. A first step could be stating that the coal transition is a black and white issue, and that it will soon be a law.