Not good for America, nor anywhere else. You're talking about BASF SE,
the largest chemical company in the world. Larger than Dow and larger
than Dupont, with 1st Q. 2013 revenue of $19.74 bn. Wacker Neuson SE and
Wacker Chemie AG, though not as big, aren't exactly hurting for profits.
It's disturbing just how much profit is necessary to satisfy these
giants. Germany finally gets on track with renewable energy, which in
the long run will benefit everyone--including multinationals just a
little ways down the road. But no. They must oblige their shareholders,
not educate them for a better future. Above all, they must attain higher
and higher bonuses, at the cost of our only world's resources, delicate
environment, wildlife and humans.
"Can't compete" is their rationale. But being on top is the real
motivation. It's a sick mentality, and even more of the already stripped
US terrain and tapped water reserves will be destroyed because of their
corporate-minded President's energy policies. For the good of all, the
US should be discouraging fracking, and encouraging renewable energy
investment.
I hope this backfires on them, and on Obama, big-time, with scathing
scientific reports and protests beyond their wildest dreams. But, how
many big corporate "accidents" will it take before this happens?
Natalia Kuzmyn
On 22/05/2013 10:33 PM, Keith Hudson wrote:
Very interesting. Good for America . If German firms go to America
then they'll also be introducing German methods of youth training
("Everyone an Apprentice").
Keith
*High Energy Costs Drive German Firms To US*
*Soaring German energy costs in the wake of the country's transition
to renewable energy have seen more and more firms thinking abut
relocating their operations. The US looks like a sound alternative,
associations claim.
*German industry lobby associations on Wednesday sent a warning shot
towards the government in Berlin, saying that rising energy costs in
the country would drive away more and more German companies.
"If we don't get on top of the country's energy transition to
renewables and are not able to rein in energy costs in the process,
German industry's competitiveness stands to suffer," the chief of the
Federation of German Industry (BDI), Ulrich Grillo, told the business
newspaper "Handelsblatt."
He said that while Germans are embroiled in a debate about the right
energy mix, the US was getting more and more attractive as a business
location for German firms, thanks not least to President Barack
Obama's support for the fracking technology resulting in much cheaper
energy prices.
*Time to act
*"That means that German companies are bound to invest a lot more in
the US," Grillo commented. Energy-intensive firms like Wacker and BASF
speak of clear competitive advantages in the US, with the first
already building a production facility in Tennessee.
The Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK)
said its own surveys had shown German companies' increasing
willingness to move parts of their operations to the US rather than to
fellow European nations in search of more favorable framework conditions.
"The US has become much more attractive to companies than Europe,"
DIHK chief Martin Wansleben told the "Handelsblatt". "Germany is in
the process of getting sandwiched between eastern Europe with its low
labor costs and the US with low energy costs," Wansleben claimed.
Deutsche Welle, 22 May 2013
<http://www.dw.de/high-energy-costs-drive-german-firms-to-us/a-16828773>
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