Berlin props up coal with €3 billion in subsidies

TheLocal.de ^ | 13 Nov 2015 11:00 GMT+01:00 | (AFP)

[Olog-hai]

A new report reveals that Germany is subsidizing coal with more than €3 billion in public funds a year, even given the country's commitment to cutting carbon emissions.

EU states are subsidizing climate-harming coal to the tune of €10 billion ($10.7 billion) a year, according to a German study due to be released next week.

In Germany alone, the coal sector receives €3.7 billion of public money annually, according to the study by think tank the Heinrich Boell Foundation and environmental group Friends of the Earth, which gave excerpts to AFP. ...

[ConservativeDude]

ummm we don’t need subsidies, we just need to quit outlawing coal fired power plants

[Olog-hai]

Of course, subsidies are the “answer” in a social market economy if you don’t want nominal costs to “necessarily skyrocket”.

[EagleUSA]

Comrade Merkel at it again...good luck to the REAL German people.

[mountn man]

27 nuclear power plants have been closed in Germany, including 8 since 2011.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition announced on 30 May 2011, that Germany’s 17 nuclear power stations will be shut down by 2022, in a policy reversal following Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.

[The_Media_never_lie]

“climate harming coal” only if CO2 is deemed a polutant. Plants would disagree.

[The_Media_never_lie]

“climate harming coal” only if CO2 is deemed a polutant. Plants would disagree.

[The_Media_never_lie]

“climate harming coal” only if CO2 is deemed a polutant. Plants would disagree.

[mountn man]

“climate harming coal” only if CO2 is deemed a polutant. Plants would disagree.

[Olog-hai]

Well, if the carbon paradigm fails, they’ll fall back on particulate, nitrogen and sulfur emissions, of course.

[El Cid]

ummm we do not need subsidies, we just need to quit outlawing coal fired power plants

That struck me odd also.
Why subsidize something they are actively trying to destroy?
God blessed us with ample supplies of carbon based fuels (like coal), so we should use them.
I have no idea why the Government would be subsidizing them though.

[Olog-hai]

All about control. Hypocrisy does not matter so long as they are in control and cannot be ousted from said control.

[hinckley buzzard]

Merkel psychotically ruled to shut down nuclear in Germany after the Japanese earthquake, only to be replaced by coal. Incoherent, but that's the facts. Wind and solar are not cutting it.

[mrsmith]

Yep. If you’re going to make ‘renewables’ a large part of your energy sector you have to have a reliable, cheap baseline sector: coal or nukes.