RWE accuses anti-coal activists in Hambach Forest of “blackmail”

The head of German energy company RWE’s workers’ council, Harald Louis, says activists in the embattled Hambach Forest who are trying to prevent the expansion of a nearby coal mine are “blackmailing” the company by using the country’s coal exit commission as a vehicle for their own particular agenda. In an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Louis said the environmental organisations that threatened to leave the commission should the clearing of Hambach Forest proceed as planned are deliberately conflating the Hambach issue with a long-term coal exit and threatening the region’s energy supply. Louis said that while most anti-coal activists in the forest are protesting peacefully, a “hard core” of violent activists that are directly threatening RWE employees are spoiling it for everyone.

Read the interview in German here.

See the CLEW article Logging row continues to weigh on coal commission’s work for background and CLEW’S Commission watch for constant updates on the body’s work.