coal phase-out
Demo for earlier coal-off in Lusatia
An alliance of environmental organizations, climate groups and local initiatives had called for a demonstration at the Nochten opencast mine in Lusatia. Hundreds of people came. photo
© Frank Hammerschmidt/dpa
For the Rhenish lignite mining area, the phase-out of coal by 2030 has been decided; in the east, digging is to continue until 2038. Hundreds of people demonstrated against it today.
Hundreds of people demonstrated in Lusatia on Sunday for a speedy exit from lignite. “Yesterday’s energy is destroying our future” and “Love for Lusatia – not for coal” was the message on posters. “A fair coal exit must be initiated so that the region gets the opportunities it deserves,” said climate activist Luisa Neubauer of the German Press Agency. A term of the power plants until 2038 is not constitutional in view of the Paris Agreement.
While the 2030 phase-out of coal has now been decided for the Rhenish lignite mining area, 2038 is still the phase-out date in the east. According to the Federal Ministry of Economics, talks are also being held about an earlier end for the East German opencast mines. According to the will of the demonstrators on Sunday, there must be no further deals including taxpayers’ money for coal companies.
That’s what the demonstrators are demanding
The demonstrators gathered at midday at the Schleife train station and moved to the Nochten opencast mine. A nationwide phase-out of coal by 2030 at the latest, a faster expansion of renewable energies, the preservation of the village of Mühlrose and a socially just structural change including a say for the Sorb minority were called for. An alliance had called for the demonstration, including Fridays for Future, the BUND Sachsen, Greenpeace, the initiative “All villages remain” and the representation of the Sorbs Serbski Sejm. The police spoke of around 550 participants in the afternoon, Fridays for Future of more than 1000.
“Lusatia must become a model region for renewable energies,” warned the chairman of BUND Sachsen, Felix Ekardt. A faster phase-out of lignite is necessary in order to meet the legally binding 1.5 degree target. “The lignite mining must stop immediately,” demanded the activist Hagen Domaska for the Serbski Sejm. He destroyed 130 villages, rivers were poisoned and dried up, meadows and fields were turned into overburden. “Mühlrose and the cultural landscape threatened by opencast mining must be preserved for future generations.”