On Nov 25, 2014, at 9:34 AM, Hinrich Kuhls <[email protected]> quoted Naomi Klein in an interview with The Independent:
> Klein: A really great example is the energy transformation that has been going > on in Germany. Thirty percent of the electricity produced there is now coming > from renewable resources, mostly wind and solar and mostly through > decentralized, community-controlled ventures of various kinds, including > hundreds of energy co-ops. You also have large cities like Munich voting to > reverse their electricity privatizations and become part of this energy > revolution. > > What’s interesting about Germany is it really shows how you need strong policy > to make a transition like that happen. It’s not about, "Hey, let’s start an > energy co-op." No. That kind of fetish for very small-scale initiatives won’t > get us where we need to go. What Germany has is a bold national policy. That’s > how you get to 30 percent renewable electricity in such a short time, and they > may very well get to 50 to 60 percent by 2030. It also shows you can design > smart policy to systematically decentralize. > > See more at: > Interview: Naomi Klein Breaks a Taboo > http://indypendent.org/2014/09/12/interview-naomi-klein-breaks-taboo It has probably gone unnoticed, but Klein is here contradicting her own view, widespread on the left, that sweeping changes to the capitalist system are a precondition to effecting what she characterizes as a “really great energy transformation”. Germany is a major capitalist country, and Angela Merkel’s CDU about as striking an example of a right-centre bourgeois government as you can get. Klein asserts that German capitalism, rather than resisting change, is responding in a remarkably positive way to pressure from below, from “decentralized, community-controlled ventures of various kinds, including hundreds of energy co-ops. You also have large cities like Munich voting to reverse their electricity privatizations and become part of this energy revolution.” In fact, the impressive expansion of renewable energy in Germany has been as much or more a response to pressure from the top, to the search by industry for cheaper, cleaner, and more reliable power, as it has been a “revolution” from below. While the costs of renewables are still relatively high as the new infrastructure is being built, they’re expected to fall sharply when it is complete. Meanwhile, electricity fed into the grid from wind turbines and solar power is being heavily subsidized so that consumers and businesses have still seen a sharp decline in the market price they pay for electricity. Merkel has also averred that the government has undertaken the program to establish German industry as a global leader in the development and export of the new green technology used to generate, manage, and store alternative energy . > > In the news: > > Could Germany shutter coal plants in pursuit of green targets? > Economy and Energy Minister distances himself from proposals that could see > eight major coal-fired power plants decommissioned > By James Murray - 25 Nov 2014 > > The German government is considering proposals to accelerate the phasing out > of > coal power in the country, after it emerged that the economy ministry is > working > on draft legislation that would impose new emissions limits on coal power > generators. > > Reuters reported over the weekend that it has seen a document detailing how > energy firms could be required to cut emissions by at least 22 million tonnes > by > 2020. The news agency said the rules would require the closure of 50 > facilities > that are already earmarked for decommissioning and the possible shuttering of > a > further eight coal-fired power stations. > > The proposed restrictions on coal emissions could form the centrepiece of a > new > wave of climate change policies from the Merkel government, which is expected > to > be announced early next month. The package, which is also expected to include > new measures to enhance energy efficiency across the economy, comes as the > government faces growing pressure to ensure Germany's legally binding target > to > cut emissions 40 per cent by 2020 against a 1990 baseline is met. > > The country has established itself as one of the world's largest clean energy > markets in recent years, consistently generating over a quarter of its power > from renewables. However, the controversial decision to phase out nuclear > power > has contributed to an increase in coal power generation in recent years and > the > government has warned that it is currently set to fall short of the 2020 > target > by between five and eight percentage points. > > There have been encouraging signs in recent months that Germany's emissions > are > starting to fall once again, as energy demand falls and renewables provide > around 28 per cent of the country's power this year. > > full: > http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2383351/could-germany-shutter-coal-plants-in-pursuit-of-green-targets > > See also: > Germany denies plans to close old coal plants in sprint to 2020 targets > http://www.euractiv.com/sections/energy/germany-denies-plans-close-old-coal-plants-sprint-2020-targets-310288 > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
