People who want to change the world need to understand why some campaigns are successful while others aren’t. One US commentator has investigated the Keystone campaign’s success in this respect. The overlapping with the German nuclear phase-out is salient. By Craig Morris.
All posts tagged: Coal
The Polish conservatives and the ecology issue
There is a political shift in Poland. The right leaning parties have won the general elections: this means that the centrist Civic Platform (PO) – after eight years of ruling – has turned into the opposition again. As Michał Olszewski warns, this could lead to a number of severe consequences for the Polish political landscape, however, there are also some possibilities of shaping environmental policy, both nationally and internationally.
Greenpeace wants to buy German coal fields
Swedish utility Vattenfall is looking for a buyer for its lignite assets in Germany. In addition to interest from the Czech Republic, environmentalists would like to take over the assets – in order to leave them in the ground. Craig Morris reports.
The demise of coal in Germany and globally
Germany opened a giant coal plant last month, but little is in the pipeline at present. Worldwide, coal faces a bleak future – somewhat unexpectedly. Craig Morris reports.
The Polish Energy Drought
The extreme heatwave this summer has put additional pressure on the Polish power system. Energy planners and policy makers in the country should no longer just be worried about power outages in winter, argues Michal Olszewski. Summer heat could be just as disruptive.
Polish right-wing politics: a devil of decarbonization
On August 6, the new Polish president – Andrzej Duda, from the right-wing and anti European Law and Justice Party (PiS) – will be sworn into office. And if the current political winds do not change, we can expect a substantial shift in the Polish parliament after the general elections in the fall, warns Michał Olszewski. Current polls suggest that the PiS will gain a significant margin. Pessimists warn that we should be prepared for a “Hungarian scenario”.
Divestment blueprint
The Carbon Tracker Initiative and Energy Transition Advisors recently published recommendations for fossil fuel companies to manage a future in which their assets will be stranded. Craig Morris investigates.
“5 megatrends” for a global energy transition
The WWF and German renewable power provider Lichtblick have joined forces to produce an overview of five ways in which the entire world is transitioning to renewables. Craig Morris reviews the five megatrends, which were published only in German.
Tackling climate change will reap benefits for human health
Curbing climate change could be the biggest global health opportunity of the 21st century. But if we choose not to act, we could reverse all the progress made by economic development in the last 50 years towards improving global public health. Roz Pidcock summarizes the findings of a new Lancet report.
German government adopts watered-down carbon plan
The plan to implement a sort of national carbon emissions trading scheme specifically to clamp down on electricity from lignite is now officially dead. Last night, the German government adopted a different plan with a broader focus. Aside from the coal sector, no one seems to like it. Craig Morris investigates.