Growing Unrest: German Trade Union To Protest CO2 Plan That “Threatens 100,000 Jobs” And “Affordable And Reliable” Energy !

Germany’s powerful trade unions have long been major constituents of the country’s SPD social democrat party. But new CO2 reduction plans being drawn up by Germany’s Economics Ministry, headed by SPD chief Sigmar Gabriel, has the country’s mining, chemical and energy workers up in arms.

The IG BCE trade union representing a variety German energy employees is calling on its members to demonstrate in Berlin, on 25 April 2015.

Aufruf Demo Berlin

“We oppose!” Photo: Stefan Hoch, IGBCE

The planned protests further puts a German government in an increasingly awkward position as it attempts to appease both the powerful environmental groups, and the country’s influential industrial trade unions.

100,000 jobs at risk, “social blackouts”

Coal power plants supply approximately 45% of the country’s electricity demands. German online daily Die Welt here reports that the Economics Ministry has produced a concept paper calling for capping emissions of older coal plants, and subjecting excessive emissions to hefty fees.

The 125-year old IG BCE union claims the plan threatens 100,000 jobs – in regions where economies are already strained. “Ultimately the social blackout of entire regions threaten,” the IG BCE warn. It also says that scaling back coal power “puts an affordable and reliable power supply at risk“.

The IG BCE announces large demonstrations outside Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office in Berlin on April 25: The motto: “Enough, we oppose!

“Unrealistic” figures

Die Welt writes that the IG BCE had investment bank Lazard check over the draft plan. Lazard found that it is based on “unrealistically high power prices” for the year 2020.The prices projected for 2020 by the government will in fact be much lower, and thus means the plan would result in 85 to 95 percent of the power plants being unprofitable. The cap would literally mean the end of Germany’s lignite-fired power plants.

IG BCE commenter Thomas Rohde writes he will surely be attending the demo, and comments:

For too long we have believed politicians that an affordable energy supply and good jobs were worth it. The gods of climate protection have blindly run and sacrificed the guarantors of prosperity and value creation at the altar of CO2 reductions, much to the joy of other EU and industrial countries.”

Hat tip: Michael Limburg, EIKE.

 

36 responses to “Growing Unrest: German Trade Union To Protest CO2 Plan That “Threatens 100,000 Jobs” And “Affordable And Reliable” Energy !”

  1. DirkH

    Well Hannelore Kraft, SPD boss from 17 million strong land NRW, opposes Gabriel’s suggestion of punishing coal and lignite power plants with special taxes, so that’s SPD vs. SPD. NRW of course is the last remaining stronghold of the SPD and will win ANY such internal power struggle within that party.

  2. DirkH

    Oh and boy is that a bad drawing even for a socialist agitprop poster.
    These guys should at least get themselves a decent artist. Like Oleg:
    http://www.thepeoplescube.com/

  3. sod

    These claims and the article are horrible.

    There are only about 20000 people working in brown coal in Germany and nobody is planning to close all plants (unfortunatly).

    http://www.klima-luegendetektor.de/2015/04/13/bsirske-sich-daemlich-rechnen/

    “The prices projected for 2020 by the government will in fact be much LOWER, and thus means the plan would result in 85 to 95 percent of the power plants being unprofitable.”

    This is interesting news. I thought renewables are driving prices up? And it would become a luxury good in the near future?

    http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/index-2013-36.html

    Perhaps somebody should tell the British as well, they are planning an extremely expensive nuclear plant (based on the idea, that electricty prices will DOUBLE!). Does this really work, if electricity is getting cheaper in neighbour countries?!?

    1. DirkH

      Well then go tell the NRW SPD about it sod, you clever genius. The rest of us can sit back and watch the socialist infighting. Let it be brutal.

      1. sod

        “Well then go tell the NRW SPD about it sod, you clever genius. ”

        The SPD is not the greens. They have a big coal connection from their past.

        So i do not understand, why you folks here think, that Germany is currently running a “green” policy.

        CDU is pro-coal and SPD ist at least not anti-coal.

        There is an obvious problem at the moment: The oldest and most dirty coal plants are currently pproducing the cheapest power. That is obviously bad.

        1. DirkH

          sod 18. April 2015 at 19:48 | Permalink | Reply
          “So i do not understand, why you folks here think, that Germany is currently running a “green” policy.”

          Because Gabriel, SPD, suggested a penalty tax for coal.
          At least pay attention, genius.

        2. DirkH

          sod 18. April 2015 at 19:48 | Permalink | Reply
          “CDU is pro-coal and SPD ist at least not anti-coal.”

          CDU stands for whatever preserves their power. Currently their strategy is to let the SPD do whatever they want, watch it fail and blame it on the SPD, then increase their share of the vote in the next election as people run from the SPD. CDU stands for nothing, in other words. Want limitless mass immigration, yeah, just let Özoguz from the SPD open the floodgates. Want wind turbines? Just let Gabriel from the SPD wreck German energy supplies. Want socialist market regulations? Let Nahles from the SPD push through minimum wage laws. Want free stuff for all? Let SPD push through full pension with 63.

          CDU stands for nothing. They used to, but they junked it.

    2. Stephen Richards

      You are just not worth the effort. Total IDIOT.

      1. Colorado Wellington

        You mean, like, “Sod off, Swampy”?

        http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/51581

      2. sod

        Insults and a link to violence.

        Is that all you have got to offer?

        If Germany abandons brown coal, will the lights go out in the same way as they went out when those 8 nuclear pölants were closed by Merkel?

        In the same way, as the lights went out in Japan, after 50 nuclear plants stopped providing power?

        ——————-

        Brown coal is getting a problem for utilities, that is the reason why Vattenfall wants to get rid of it.

        http://www.adn.com/article/20150414/sweden-vattenfall-wants-sell-brown-coal-operations

        Brown coal needs court backup, to get residents from the mining area (this needs a significant reason, via the german “Grundgesetz”). In the near future, a judge will decide, that there is no public need behind brown coal mining and the operation will stop.
        Mark my words.

        1. Pethefin

          Dream on Sod:
          http://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/04/15/former-un-climate-chief-coal-is-essential/

          why do you bother littering this blog with your propaganda?

        2. Colorado Wellington

          A link to violence? What are you talking about? A good green soldier should know what the word means.

          Your bluster is ridiculous but I’ll try something different:

          Off with you. Swampy.

        3. DirkH

          sod 19. April 2015 at 13:08 | Permalink | Reply
          “Brown coal needs court backup, to get residents from the mining area (this needs a significant reason, via the german “Grundgesetz”).”

          …A Wind turbine needs an exclusion zone, as it is making the countryside unfit for human habitation or animal life through Infrasound terror… That this exclusion zone has been reduced to a radius of 350m in Schlewsig Holstein is a sick joke, responsible for this antihuman destruction program is the rich left-green Gutmenschen faction in the inner cities… They don’t care about destroyed lifes in the countryside.

          Shall we compare the impact? Produced energy for unusable land? You wouldn’t like that comparison.

  4. Stephen Richards

    Yep, Goodbye Germany, goodbye EU, goodbye UK and down goes La France socialist.

    1. AndyG55

      Not long now before one of those countries suffers a major electricity supply issue. A base load supply collapse.

      The aftermath of this should be fun to watch from outside. 🙂

      1. AndyG55

        P. any idea why that went into auto-mod ?

  5. Mikky

    If greens get 5% of the vote give them control over 5% of energy production, not 100%.

  6. Walter H. Schneider

    “Wir wehren uns.” Perhaps a more accurate translation of that phrase would be, “We defend ourselves.”

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