Police prepare removal of last Hambach Forest tree-house as activists mount threats

German police prepare the clearing of the last known tree-house holdout in the embattled Hambach Forest near Cologne to enable energy company RWE to continue expanding its nearby coal mine, the Rheinische Post reports. One activist was injured during a police intervention when she fell about six metres from a ladder of a tree house. The woman was brought to a hospital. Environmental NGO Greenpeace criticised the conservative state premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, Armin Laschet, for not engaging in dialogue with protesters who say the old forest should not be cut down to make way for a power source the German coal exit commission is concurrently trying to phase-out. Mine owner RWE said its own employees, those of  companies they work with, and local authorities have received threatening phone calls and e-mails, while leftist activist websites listed “attack targets,” such as  companies and police stations involved.

Read the article in German here.

See CLEW's Commission watch for regular updates on the preparation of Germany's coal phase-out.