Coal commission delay shows “crucial questions” are on the table – opinion
Dow Jones Newswire
The decision to extend the work of Germany’s coal exit commission shows that we have reached a point where crucial questions must be answered by the federal government itself, such as how to finance the phase-out, writes Christian Grimm in an opinion piece for Dow Jones Newswire. “After months of discussions, the experts appointed by the government are now getting to the points where it hurts,” writes Grimm. Political Berlin is only now realising how expensive it will be to get out of coal and the government had planned to spend far too little money on this. Still, it is unlikely that the task force will fail, as the federal government wants to prevent further damage to Germany’s reputation in climate action, writes Grimm. “To achieve this, it must be prepared to open up the state’s coffers.”
Read the opinion piece in German here.
For background, read the CLEW article Germany's coal exit commission extends work to 2019.
