Wednesday, December 1st, 2021
Coal phase-out as early as 2030
Kretschmer advises DGB to protest against traffic light plans
After a long struggle, it will be decided to phase out coal-fired power generation in 2038. The traffic light coalition would like to prefer this. Not good news for Saxony’s head of government. He got up and carried the unions to resistance.
The Saxon Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer sharply criticizes the plan for an early coal phase-out in 2030 and encourages protest. He could “only advise the unions not to take this path lightly,” said the CDU politician at a discussion by the German Trade Union Confederation. The DGB itself insists above all on well-paid and secure replacement jobs.
According to the coalition agreement, the planned federal government of the SPD, Greens and FDP wants to bring the coal phase-out, which was previously planned for 2038, forward to 2030. To this end, renewable energies are to be expanded and new gas-fired power plants built. Coal areas such as Lausitz in Brandenburg and Saxony are to receive billions in aid.
Kretschmer said it was “not in order” that the compromise reached by the coal commission in 2019 should be broken by politicians. He advised the trade unions: “If you want to achieve something, you have to keep emphasizing this breach of trust that is linked to this coalition agreement.” The creation of thousands of well-paid new jobs will not succeed within five to eight years, you need more time, said Kretschmer.
Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke – the SPD politician was involved in the traffic light talks – was much more confident. The preconditions for bringing forward the coal phase-out are security of supply, competitive prices and the structural development of the coal fields. The Lausitz should become the European model region of a climate-neutral economy. “We have the best chances,” he said. The first new industrial jobs have already been created.
The DGB district chief Berlin-Brandenburg, Christian Hoßbach, emphasized: “We expect the new federal government to stay on course, to link structural change across the board with the anchoring of good work in the district and to adjust the time of the payment of structural funding.” New jobs would have to be collectively paid, co-determined and socially secure. His Saxon DGB colleague Anne Neuendorf asked the unions to have a say in the restructuring of the economic structure.