EU nuclear plans annoy the Greens - SPD celebrity gets caught in the crossfire because of comparison

Created: 01/03/2022, 02:31 PM

From: Cindy Boden

The nuclear proposal from Brussels is highly controversial.

The traffic light parties position themselves, there is potential for conflict.

The SPD member Stegner causes a stir.

Berlin / Brussels - The Greens * are not at all happy about the EU plans to classify nuclear power as "sustainable": They are calling for changes.

"It must now be our goal to exert pressure through the federal government, but of course also through our colleagues in the EU Parliament, where a simple majority can be rejected, to work towards improvements in these taxonomy rules," said party vice-president and chief candidate Ricarda Lang * on Monday in the ARD “Morgenmagazin”.

The Greens reaffirmed the criticism expressed by party colleagues such as Environment Minister Steffi Lemke and Economics Minister Robert Habeck: classifying nuclear power as sustainable is "a form of greenwashing that we should not go along with".

The move could lead to "that important investments that we now need for renewable energies are headed in the wrong direction".

Ricarda Lang, Deputy Federal Chairwoman of the Greens (archive photo) © Mike Schmidt / Imago

EU plans for nuclear power highly controversial: Greens, SPD and FDP are looking for a government line

On New Year's Eve, the EU Commission sent its draft regulation on the so-called taxonomy to the governments of the 27 EU member states. This is highly controversial. The taxonomy is a kind of classification of sustainable economic activities and is equivalent to a classification as worthy of funding and a recommendation to investors. Among other things, Brussels proposes to classify investments in new nuclear power plants or to extend the life of existing ones as sustainable and climate-friendly under certain circumstances.

The SPD * also takes a stand: “New nuclear power plant projects cannot be financed without massive subsidies.

Group vice-president Matthias Miersch demands that Germany should exhaust all possibilities in order to prevent the promotion of this technology, which is neither economic nor sustainable, at the European level, "said a tweet from the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag.

SPD leader Saskia Esken explained her negative attitude on Twitter: “Nuclear reactors produce waste that has been radioactive for millions of years and thus endangers life on our earth.

Their safe final disposal is and remains unsolved.

For this reason in particular, it is irresponsible to promote nuclear energy as a sustainable technology. ”Nothing is“ green ”about nuclear power.

SPD MP causes a stir on Twitter: "Have you just called Macron an opponent of vaccinations, a corona denier and a right-wing radical?"

Meanwhile, member of the Bundestag Ralf Stegner caused a stir from the SPD.

“Radiated reactions from atomic fans on all social media channels once again impressively confirm everything that I have recently written about it.

In terms of content and tone, they are hardly inferior to vaccination opponents, corona deniers and right-wing radicals, "wrote the atomic energy opponent on Twitter.

The fact that he mentioned vaccination opponents and nuclear power proponents in one go caused some angry comments and also insults.

Many referred to other countries that are sticking to nuclear power. "Good to know that the French and many other governments are hardly inferior to vaccination opponents, corona deniers and right-wing extremists in terms of content and tone," replied one user. "Have you just described Macron as an anti-vaccination opponent, a corona denier and a right-wing radical?" Asked another, referring to the French president.

Stegner was evidently forced to react again. He posted several tweets on the subject. “Is it so difficult to read meaningfully? I don't like the attitude of the French government towards nuclear energy at all, but of course I didn't (!) Compare it to right-wing extremists. Subterranean social media posts by some nuclear fans, on the other hand, already resemble this lousy style. ”The alleged Macron comparison was followed by a“ no ”from the SPD MP. “Of course I did not equate Macron, nor the Finns or pro-atom scientists with Nazis, as they absurdly and intellectually somewhat poorly asserted. But the intellectual + linguistic brutality in social media posts has long since spilled over from the corona issue, ”he tweeted a few hours later on Monday morning.

EU draft on nuclear power - FDP: "That is why it is right to continue working on this proposal"

In addition to the SPD and the Greens, the only traffic light party that is missing is the FDP *.

Lukas Köhler, vice-leader of the group, opposed a blockade of the Brussels plans: "From our point of view there will not be a qualified majority against the Commission's proposal on nuclear power, so it is right to continue working on this proposal," he told the

.

Finance minister and FDP leader Christian Lindner was also generally positive about the proposal for modern gas-fired power plants *.

FDP Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann, in turn, wants to ensure that the EU proposals for classifying nuclear power as sustainable are still changed.

"We will do everything we can to exert our influence as a Federal Republic," he said on Monday on TV broadcaster Welt.

"And of course the Greens would like nuclear or nuclear energy not to get a green label - that is also counterintuitive for many in Germany." that modern gas-fired power plants should be promoted - "especially if you can later work with hydrogen".

The coalition agreed on this.