Can an industrial country like Germany do without nuclear power permanently? That’s debatable. But now, in the midst of the energy crisis, exiting would be irresponsible. If the co-governing Greens don’t recognize this soon, their recent crash in the polls may only have been the beginning.
The Green Economics Minister Robert Habeck recently fell in the popularity ranking.
Oliver Maksan, editor in the Berlin office of the NZZ.
You are reading an excerpt from the weekday newsletter “The Other View”, today from Oliver Maksan, editor in the Berlin office of the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung”. Subscribe to the newsletter for free. Not resident in Germany? Benefit here.
The German Greens may one day have to look back and realize that we took a wrong turn in August and September 2022 – with serious consequences for the country, but also for ourselves. Because nuclear power plants can only function in a dramatic situation for the German economy as a reserve and ready for a few months, but not having them produced, is incomprehensible.
Economics Veronika Grimm rightly pointed out that the debate should not be reduced to security of supply and network stability, as the Greens are doing with reference to the “stress test” commissioned by Economics Minister Robert Habeck. The dampening effects that continued operation would have on the development of energy prices are obvious.
Resistance to nuclear power is not just left
Of course, it’s about the party DNA. The resistance to nuclear power was and is identity-forming for the Greens. And of course, given the undeniable residual risk and the still unanswered question of disposal, there are reasons worth considering for phasing out nuclear power. The resistance is not even necessarily left. The conservative philosopher Robert Spaemann, for example, argued that no artificial natural constraints should be left behind for future generations, which, like radioactive nuclear waste for a long time, would irreversibly limit their actions.
In addition, principles should not be suspected of being ideological from the outset. It was once remarked that ideology, like bad breath, is always what others have. The ideological accusation now raised by the FDP against the Greens could easily be sent back to the sender given their resistance to a speed limit.
Principles become ideology when they are decoupled from reality and should no longer be measured against it. That is exactly what the Greens are currently doing. Twenty years ago, then-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder showed how things could be done differently with his welfare state reforms. As is well known, the socio-political turnaround did not please the Social Democrats. Nevertheless, it was right for the country – even if the SPD is now taking late revenge on a core part of Schröder’s agenda with a largely sanction-free citizens’ income.
A party that, like the Greens, has the aspiration to become chancellor party one day has to think beyond its narrower circle of supporters. And even this is by no means always of the same opinion. 41 percent of supporters of the Greens according to a recent survey for the continued operation of all three German nuclear power plants, which are normally connected to the grid until the end of the year. Only 38 percent agree with Habeck’s proposal. In the general population, two-thirds of the citizens would like it to continue operating until 2024. And this majority is apparently increasingly gaining the impression that the Greens place their pure doctrine above the common good.
The Greens slip in polls
Here too they give Survey a taste. If there were federal elections on Sunday, the Greens would only get an election result of 20 percent. The level is still relatively high, but just two weeks ago the party was at 25 percent.
Even more bitter from the point of view of the Greens: Confidence in the party’s ability to solve the country’s problems is dwindling dramatically. Only twelve instead of eighteen percent of the Germans trust them. The entire party could soon follow Robert Habeck. The green economics minister literally fell in the ranking of politicians by the Insa institute and had to exchange first place for sixth place.
No one is asking the Greens to align themselves with the CDU, which even in the opposition does not know where – keyword women’s quota – pragmatism ends and lack of principles begins. If the industrial nation of Germany, even in the face of the energy crisis, is still convinced that nuclear power can be permanently dispensed with, that’s one thing. But in the current situation it is irresponsible. One can only hope that the Greens will change their minds – for the sake of the country or for themselves, it makes no difference.