<
https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/04/why-germany-ditched-nuclear-before-coal-and-why-it-wont-go-back/>
"One year ago, Germany took its last three nuclear power stations offline. When
it comes to energy, few events have baffled outsiders more.
In the face of climate change, calls to expedite the transition away from
fossil fuels, and an energy crisis precipitated by Russia’s 2022 invasion of
Ukraine, Berlin’s move to quit nuclear before carbon-intensive energy sources
like coal has attracted significant criticism. (Greta Thunberg prominently
labeled it “a mistake.”)
This decision can only be understood in the context of post-war socio-political
developments in Germany, where anti-nuclearism predated the public climate
discourse.
From a 1971 West German bestseller evocatively titled
Peaceably into
Catastrophe: A Documentation of Nuclear Power Plants, to huge protests of
hundreds of thousands—including the largest-ever demonstration seen in the
West German capital Bonn—the anti-nuclear movement attracted national
attention and widespread sympathy. It became a major political force well
before even the Chernobyl disaster of 1986.
Its motivations included: a distrust of technocracy; ecological, environmental,
and safety fears; suspicions that nuclear energy could engender nuclear
proliferation; and general opposition to concentrated power (especially after
its extreme consolidation under the Nazi dictatorship).
Instead, activists championed what they regarded as safer, greener, and more
accessible renewable alternatives like solar and wind, embracing their promise
of greater self-sufficiency, community participation, and citizen empowerment
(“energy democracy”).
This support for renewables was less about CO₂ and more aimed at resetting
power relations (through decentralised, bottom-up generation rather than
top-down production and distribution), protecting local ecosystems, and
promoting peace in the context of the Cold War."
Via Christoph S.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
