Saturday, January 01, 2022
“Green” nuclear power and natural gas
Vienna criticizes the EU’s “night and fog” campaign
On New Year’s Eve, the EU Commission publishes plans according to which nuclear power and natural gas should be classified as “green” energy sources in the future. In some member states, this causes considerable head shaking. The government in Austria is even considering filing a lawsuit.
The EU Commission’s plans to classify nuclear power and natural gas as green energy sources are also met with strong opposition from Austria. “The EU Commission took a step towards greenwashing nuclear power and fossil gas yesterday in a night and fog action,” criticized the Austrian climate protection minister Leonore Gewessler in Vienna. The Green politician threatened to file a lawsuit if the two energy sources were to be included in the so-called taxonomy of the EU.
“The time of publication alone shows that the EU Commission itself is obviously not convinced of its decision,” explained Gewessler. “For Austria, however, it is very clear: Neither nuclear power nor the burning of fossil natural gas have lost anything in the taxonomy.” After all, these energy sources are “harmful to the climate and the environment and destroy the future of our children”.
The taxonomy is a kind of set of rules that defines which projects and companies in the EU are considered “green” or “sustainable” and can be funded. According to the EU Commission, it wants to push ahead with the conversion to a climate-neutral financial system and a sustainable economy. Disclosure requirements for companies and financial market participants should also enable investors, among other things, to determine which projects and investments are “green”.
The Brussels authority had sent its draft regulation on the so-called taxonomy to the governments of the 27 EU member states on New Year’s Eve. Gewessler announced that the government in Vienna would “examine the text carefully in the coming days”. Accordingly, she has already commissioned a comprehensive legal opinion from the renowned law firm Redeker Sellner Dahs on nuclear power in taxonomy.
“With that in our luggage, we will not shy away from taking legal action against the planned taxonomy ordinance,” assured Gewessler. If the Commission actually implements these plans, Austria will sue. “Because nuclear power is a technology of the past whose danger to humans and the environment has been clearly documented,” argued the minister. “It is too expensive and too slow to help us fight the climate crisis. It has no future.”
When using natural gas, “vast amounts of CO2” are released
The Green Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke also believes that the EU Commission’s plans are “absolutely wrong”. “We do not see any approval of the new proposals of the EU Commission,” said party colleague and Federal Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck. The Deputy Federal Chairwoman of the Greens, Ricarda Lang, commented on the EU process on twitter sarcastically: “My resolution for the new year: drink less alcohol. To make it easier, I have classified champagne and beer as soft drinks.”
Like Germany, Austria wants to be climate neutral by 2040; the EU has set this target for 2050. “We cannot afford to call fossil natural gas a ‘green investment'”, warned Gewessler. After all, “huge amounts of CO2” would be released when using natural gas. Austria will therefore “continue to look for allies at EU level to take action”.
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. With its draft, the Commission launched a consultation process with the Member States that is expected to last around two weeks. The commission will then present the final proposal in mid-January. Subsequently, the Council of Member States and the EU Parliament each have a right of veto.
The chances of Germany and Austria are bad here: In order to hold up the Commission’s plans, it would need a qualified majority of 20 of the 27 member states, which also represent 65 percent of the EU population. Even in the EU Parliament, where a simple majority would be enough for a veto, this has not yet emerged.