this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2023
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Germany Is No Longer Exceptional | The Atlantic (12ft.io)
submitted 1 year ago by BlackRose@slrpnk.net to c/europe@feddit.de
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[–] nicerdicer@feddit.de 90 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (10 children)

If you ask Berlin who is to blame, there seems to be just one answer: high energy prices sparked by Russia’s war against Ukraine. The AfD and far-left Die Linke are nostalgic for cheap Russian gas, while the opposing center-right CDU and the governing pro-business FDP blame the Greens for insisting on turning off the country’s last nuclear-power plants this spring.

Turning off nuclear power has been decided by both the CDU and the FDP in 2011, when the Fukusima nuclear power plant was hit with a tsunami. The remaining last nuclear power plants in Germany were supposed to be shut down in 2022. Because of the war in Ukraine it was decided that they were switched off a few months later than originally planned, to help to get through winter.

Edit: spelling

[–] AnusBesamus@feddit.de 31 points 1 year ago

Yeah the talk to keep them running longer was pure populism without facts behind the words. The required safety certifications were running out and you need to order uranium way in advance. So just keep them running was not a simple option.

In this summer the renewable usage is on record highs and the energy prices from renewables on record lows.

The mistake was indeed not heavily investing in renewables before.

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