On Monday, the court decided that the areas of Lützerath will belong to the energy company RWE in the future. Protesters have been opposing the expansion of the Garzweiler lignite mine for several weeks.
The German government’s complete turnaround in climate policy heats up emotions in Germany.
On Monday, police began dismantling a protest camp in the village of Lützerath in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Anti-coal activists have been trying to prevent the village from being demolished by the coal mine for several weeks. Demonstrators have, for example, taken up residence in deserted houses.
The police have demanded activists to leave the village several times. However, around two thousand protesters have not backed down.
The demonstrations went peacefully until Sunday, when the demonstrators started throwing stones at the police.
On Monday, the local court decided that the areas of Lützerath will belong to the energy company RWE in the future.
On Tuesday, the police carried away the protesters sitting in front of the open pit mine. Some had attached themselves to the construction site fence. Many formed human chains against the police.
Lützerath is a deserted village
The residents of Lützerath have moved out of the village a long time ago, because the expansion of the nearby coal mine on the site of the village has been planned for a long time.
In Germany, similar villages have been destroyed on the way to coal mines before.
More than the fate of the village, however, emotions are heated by the chancellor By Olaf Scholz the government’s turncoat trick.
Members of the German Green Party have registered their opposition to the expansion of the mine.
Nevertheless, the vice-chancellor and the minister of economy and climate protection and the chairman of the Green Party Robert Habeck has supported the decision to expand coal mining.
In addition, tensions between the German government and climate activists reached their peak after the government announced in June that it plans to increase coal production.
At the time, the German government justified its decision with the decrease in Russian gas supplies.
At the same time, the German government has promised to abandon the use of fossil fuels by the end of the decade. Lignite power plants are scheduled to be closed by 2030.
The current protests are reminiscent of the protests that started in 2013 in the Hambach forest.
Activists who lived in trees for years delayed RWE’s mining project. In 2020, the German government decided that the quarry in the old forest would not be expanded.
What thoughts did the story evoke? You can discuss the topic on 11.1. until 11 p.m.
Sources: Reuters, AFP