You sue, I sue, we all do (sue). And here I thought Germany was the land of Konsens (consensus – not common sense). At least when it comes to doing this nuclear phaseout thang, I mean. Fooled again.
OK, it is logical and predictable that Germany’s power companies now have hurt feelings and are preparing to take legal action against the government’s decision to shut down their nuclear power plants because, well, the government is shutting down their nuclear power plants.
But what about all the thousands of lawsuits being prepared by power-line, wind energy and other regional resistance group apponents the nation over set to flood the lawsuit market once these big honkin’ power-line thingies start going up? You know, the power-lines that will transport the good offshore wind farm energy from the north to the bad industrial south?
Why can’t we (as in you) learn to live together in simple peace and harmony? Now that the nuclear power dragon has finally been slain, I mean. Come on, folks. Join hands, form a circle, sit down and talk.
Specifically, they will invoke Article 14 of the German constitution, which addresses the question of whether the companies’ assets are being expropriated, and if they are therefore entitled to compensation. After that, the amount of compensation would be negotiated in civil courts. According to internal calculations, the industry envisions a potential sum of €20 billion ($29 billion). The burden would ultimately fall on taxpayers.
Observing Hermann 
Yeah, the power companies. Here is the real world #1 loser on energy policy.
“Die kollektive Besoffenheit, in der sich Deutschland befindet, beinhaltet die Wahnvorstellung, Deutschland werde mit seinem “Ausstieg” die Rolle eines Vorreiters spielen. Es gibt dafür nicht das geringste Anzeichen. Wenn wir im Jahr 2022 “ausgestiegen” sein werden, haben wir uns einer wichtigen industriellen Basis beraubt. Man wird uns weltweit belächeln und sich über diesen wohl ziemlich einmaligen Fall der ökonomischen Selbstverstümmelung eines großen Industrielands freuen; ein Geschenk an unsere Konkurrenten auf dem Weltmarkt.
Deutschland glaubt Vorbild zu sein und ist doch nur ein eigenbrödlerischer Außenseiter.” (ZETTELS KLEINES ZIMMER)
http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Despite-Fukushima-Nuclear-Power-Production-to-increase-by-27-before-2020.html
That’s very true, about Germany being an outsider here. And it is very typical, I find. Deutschland will seine Ruhe haben (Germany wants it’s peace and quiet), in all things, not just here.
http://www.news.de/vermischtes/855147896/hans-christoph-buch-deutschland-will-seine-ruhe/1/
The Germans really think that they live in a collective Schrebergarten (allotment garden). The rest of the world is far, far away and it should stay that way. There was another interesting article about this (sort of) in the Zeit again,
http://www.zeit.de/2011/24/Metropole-Berlin?utm_source=twitterfeed
how the Greens (and not just the Greens) don’t get big cities like Berlin (or potential big cities like Berlin, I should say–there are no big cities in Germany in my view) and don’t know how to win the coming election here. Anything “urban” runs against their grain, or think of their fear of technolgy or “progress” in general (think Stuttgart 21).
You know, how Germans are so “Ich will so bleiben, wie ich bin.” Things should stay the way they are, and generally do.
“Was heißt es, wenn ausgerechnet sie (die Wähler in Berlin) mit einem Programm zu locken sind, das überall nur die Notbremse zieht? Schon hat das Ausland sich entschieden und Berlin in den Rang der international satisfaktionsfähigen Metropolen erhoben. Künstler aus aller Welt, Neugierige, Touristen strömen herbei und definieren die Stadt. Sollte dies nur gegen den Willen und hinter dem Rücken ihrer Einwohner geschehen, die darin nichts als Lärmbelästigung und Entfremdung sehen?”
It’s typical German, like I say. And hilarious as usual.
Of course they have to stop being green to win any city of more than one million… despite what they say to deflect criticism, they oppose modernity, and frankly, German cities are still in a sufficient degree of disrepair that it sounds like outright political abandonment to the ears of an urban voter.
Besides, Berliners prefer good-old-fashioned KPD, SPD, Baader-Meinfhof type symps’ “worker uprising” type head breaking… The smell of tear gas makes us all so sentimental and such – just like the fist-sized cobblestones, the grafitti and the grime.
Absolutely right, Hermann. After 50 years, a standard application form for insurance was renewed last week. And see there, it was the old doubled up four page form turned into itself again, 4 single pages plus more questions on smaller print to answer than before, without even a chance of online usage. Hilarious!
“Bleib du so, wie ich bin”, as they say here. LOL