Coal mining has long been the height of tensions over Germany’s energy policies.
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News of climate activist Greta Thunberg’s arrest by police near the German village of Lutzerath drew attention to questionable plans to expand a coal mine, which she called “treason” by the government.
While perhaps most recognizable, the Swedish activist is among thousands of others who have been forced to take part in protests in the village of North Rhine-Westphalia in recent years, which is a flashpoint for German weather activists seeking to stamp out fossil fuels.
The village is one of many centuries-old settlements that have spent decades under the starving shadow of the Garzweiler coal mine, and in 2013 a federal court ruled in favor of expanding fossil fuel, paving the way for the destruction of nearby villages and scores of displaced people.
While most Lutzerath citizens accepted the refund and moved, a farmer named Eckardt Heukamp refused to move until a court ruled last March, and his case was temporarily taken over by climate activists who began flocking to the village about two years ago.
But the site was violently evicted last week by insurrectionary police and bulldozers, as thousands marched to show their discontent with the demolition of the village and the expansion of the coal mine, now emblematic of tensions over Germany’s energy policies in the face of the climate and inflationary crisis.
By Tuesday, even the handful of protesters who remained in tree houses and an underground tunnel had been removed and dozens were reportedly injured in clashes between police and protesters.
The plans to demolish Lutzerath are part of a “compromise” agreement reached between the government and energy giant RWE last year, allowing it to destroy the deserted village in exchange for ending coal use by 2030, instead of 2038.
The Green Party, which has strength in the ruling national coalition, says the deal meets many of environmentalists’ demands and has prevented the demolition of five other villages.
Police stand before activists blocking lanes in which lignite is transported from the Garzweiler open-pit mine on Tuesday.
The president of North Rhine-Westphalia told Deutschlandfunk radio on Saturday that energy policy was “not pretty” but that coal was needed more than ever in light of the energy crisis facing Europe’s largest economy.
And German Economy Minister Robert Habeck insisted Lutzerath is the “wrong symbol” to protest, telling Der Spiegel on Friday: “This is the last position where lignite will be mined; It is not a symbol of more of the same, but of the last frontier. “.
But activists argue that fossil fuels will have to remain on the surface to avoid climate breakdowns. Addressing some 6,000 protesters marching in Lutzerath on Saturday, Thunberg called the mine’s expansion “a betrayal of future generations. “
“Germany is one of the biggest polluters in the world and will be held accountable,” he said, adding: “The other people most affected are clear, the science is clear, we want to keep carbon in the ground.
“When governments and companies do this, they actively destroy the environment, putting countless people at risk, other people step in. “
Despite being evicted from the village last weekend, Thunberg is reportedly part of an organization of protesters who remained at the scene and were arrested by Aachen police after she apparently ran to the edge of the mine.
The force said the protesters’ organization would be released the same day and said there is “no explanation for why to hold them for days. “
Meanwhile, anti-mine protests continued in the western state. Dozens of climate activists crowded onto a main street in the western German city of Cologne and a state government building in Düsseldorf, while others occupied a giant bulldozer at the Enden coal pit. mine.
Near Rommerskirchen, an organization of about 120 activists also occupied the coal-fired tracks to the Neurath force station, according to police and the RWE corporate force. Those who refused to leave the tracks were swept away, dpa reported.
Germany is expected to miss its weather targets for the time being for the year in a row.
Additional reporting through agencies
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Police stand before activists blocking lanes in which lignite is transported from the Garzweiler open-pit mine on Tuesday.
EPA/RONALD WITTEK
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