What I'm rallying against here is that CC posted this article for what reason? To say that we shouldn't go forward with renewables because it costs too much?
Let's get this basis of fact out of the way: The effects of climate change are happening and will continue to get worse. It's going cost money to transition from carbon emitting power generators.
Now that we've established that...
Here are the Speigel Articles, the theme of those articles is the "failure" has come from government political will and inefficiency.
TL;DR - Germany's politicians haven't moved fast or efficiently enough.
Quote:
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But the sweeping idea has become bogged down in the details of German reality. The so-called Energiewende, the shift away from nuclear in favor of renewables, the greatest political project undertaken here since Germany's reunification, is facing failure. In the eight years since Fukushima, none of Germany's leaders in Berlin have fully thrown themselves into the project, not least the chancellor. Lawmakers have introduced laws, decrees and guidelines, but there is nobody to coordinate the Energiewende, much less speed it up. And all of them are terrified of resistance from the voters, whenever a wind turbine needs to be erected or a new high-voltage transmission line needs to be laid out.
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Quote:
A majority of Germans were once proud of the turn away from nuclear and toward renewables, a pride political leaders could have capitalized on.
But the grand transformation has lost its way. The expansion of wind parks and solar facilities isn't moving forward. There is a lack of grids and electricity storage -- but for the most part there is a lack of political will and effective management. The German government has dropped the ball.
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Quote:
The German government made a key mistake when it announced the end of the nuclear era in Germany eight years ago: It announced it was turning away from nuclear power, without simultaneously initiating the end of coal.
Wind turbines and solar panels were installed across the country -- but the coal-fired power plants kept operating. The government set up a clean energy system alongside the dirty one. But why? Because Berlin was afraid of do anything that might harm a single company or voter.
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He's cherry-picking the article to focus on cost alone in a sizzler opinion piece headline.
Why do we need an opinion piece on an article? Because he wants to lobby for Nuclear (for what reason I'm curious). But he's positing that the cost is the reason it has failed, whereas the article clearly states that slow moving politicians and government inefficiency are the real problems.
Let me say, I'm not for or against Nuclear -
but building power plants is as if not more expensive. Taking that argument out of his opinion piece article, what are we left with?
https://www.spiegel.de/international...a-1266586.html
https://www.spiegel.de/international...1266586-2.html