The government is still arguing about the continued operation of the remaining nuclear power plants. Surprisingly, Greta Thunberg is now on the side of the proponents. In an interview, the climate activist explains why she thinks the shutdown in Germany is wrong.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg believes that given the current energy crisis, it would be better to keep the three remaining nuclear power plants in Germany running. “It’s not the opinion of ‘Fridays for Future’, but I think it’s currently worse to stop existing nuclear power plants if coal is the alternative,” said the 19-year-old in an interview with “Stern”.
When asked whether we should freeze to save the climate, Thunberg said: “It’s wrong to play these options off against each other.” It’s no secret that we need to use less energy if we want to fight the climate crisis. “But that doesn’t mean that we should suffer,” says the co-founder of the climate movement “Fridays for Future”.
At the same time, she also criticizes: “If we had seriously invested in renewable energies earlier, we wouldn’t have these difficulties today.” Nevertheless, she does not see coal as an alternative to nuclear power plants as the solution to the problem.
There is currently an open dispute in the federal government about the further use of nuclear energy. Contrary to the plans of Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck, the federal government has not yet given the green light for his draft law, which would enable the continued operation of two southern German nuclear power plants until spring 2023. Above all, the FDP is opposed to the plans of the Economics Minister: From the department of Finance Minister and FDP leader Christian Lindner it was said recently that the continued operation of only two power plants alone is not sufficient.
The coalition partner of the Greens therefore feels confirmed by Thunberg’s statements. FDP politician Marco Buschmann took up the climate activist’s statement in a tweet: “Even Greta Thunberg is in favor of the continued operation of the German nuclear power plants. Further proof that this is physically (grid stability), economically (price reduction) and climate-politically (climate neutrality) is correct,” wrote the Minister of Justice.
Habeck’s plan envisages only operating the two nuclear power plants Isar II and Neckarwestheim II as operational reserves to stabilize the power grid and not taking the last nuclear power plant off the grid until mid-April 2023. According to current law, the two reactors would have to be shut down together with the third remaining Emsland nuclear power plant on December 31, 2022 and go offline.
