lignite place
Storm makes Lützerath activists to create
Numerous activists are still holding out in the tree houses. The gathering storm makes it harder for them to stay. photo
© Federico Gambarini/dpa
The night in Lützerath was largely quiet, but the evacuation continues. In addition, the activists in the occupied lignite town are increasingly troubled by a stumbling block.
The stormy and rainy weather is becoming increasingly difficult for the activists in the occupied lignite town of Lützerath. “We hope that the storm won’t get any stronger,” says a spokeswoman for the “Lützerath Lives” initiative in the morning. The situation is dangerous for the people in the tree houses. “Normally they come down in a storm,” said the spokeswoman.
The police continued the evacuation of Lützerath on Thursday morning. Climate activists are still holding out in the tree houses and squatted buildings. How many there are is unclear. The spokeswoman did not provide any information. There was constant rain on site in the morning and there was a strong wind.
The night was mostly quiet
During the first night after the evacuation began, it was largely quiet. There were no special incidents, said a police spokesman in the morning. “During the day, the clearance work will continue,” he emphasized.
A dpa reporter on site also reported a largely quiet night. Once on Wednesday evening some firecrackers were thrown and fireworks rockets were ignited from an occupied building, nobody was injured. Meanwhile, not far away, the police took a group of climate activists off a warehouse roof.
Elsewhere, police spent several hours overnight rescuing an activist from a wrecked car that had been set up to obstruct a path. The woman had entrenched herself in the wreck and cemented her feet in the path. She was retrieved early in the morning.
Some climate activists are still holding out in the tree houses and in occupied buildings. How many there are is unclear. There was constant rain on site and there was strong wind.
The settlement of Lützerath is to be demolished in order to be able to mine the coal deposits below. Climate activists want to prevent this. The police began eviction yesterday amid mostly peaceful protests. Police officers took activists down from trees and platforms, using lifting platforms at various points. At the entrance to Lützerath there was demolition work with excavators, and one of the town signs of Lützerath was also removed.
Nationwide demonstrations planned
The alliance “Lützerath cannot be cleared” has announced protest actions such as sit-ins in the area for today. Fridays for Future wants to demonstrate nationwide on the second day of the eviction. This is how Neubauer wants to talk at 10 a.m. in the Erkelenz district of Keyenberg, around four kilometers from Lützerath.
The police are in Lützerath with a large contingent on site. Before the start of the evacuation, massive resistance had already been expected. On the other hand, observers spoke of a relaxed atmosphere on the first day. At the start of the evacuation, scuffles broke out early on Wednesday morning. According to the police, a Molotov cocktail, stones and pyrotechnics were thrown in the direction of the officers. A spokeswoman for the “Lützerath Leben” initiative accused the police of being too tough.
Habeck: “It touches me too”
In the face of criticism from the climate movement of the Greens because of the eviction of Lützerath, Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck was concerned. “It also affects me or drives me, like everyone in my party,” said Habeck last night in ZDF’s “heute-journal”. “But we still have to explain what is right. And it was right – unfortunately – to ward off the gas shortage, an energy emergency in Germany, also with additional electricity from lignite – and to bring forward the exit from coal.”
Lützerath is not “the continuation of the energy policy of the past: electricity generation from lignite,” stressed Habeck. “It’s not, as is claimed, the eternal continuation, it’s the bottom line.” Unfortunately, the village of Lützerath could no longer be saved – “but it is the end of lignite-fired power generation in NRW”. “In this respect – with great respect for the climate movement – in my opinion the place is the wrong symbol.”
The economics ministries led by the Greens in the federal and state governments of North Rhine-Westphalia had agreed on a compromise with the energy company RWE, which included digging up the coal under Lützerath – but also an early coal phase-out in NRW by 2030.