RWE - German energi company - to expand lignite mines into Hambach forest

[G-Man]

https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/udland/selskab-vil-udvide-kulmine-nu-skal-en-af-europas-aeldste-skove-faeldes?cid=soc_facebook_drnyheder_gfa44rcz

My translation:

After weeks of bitter resistance, the last tree huts have been cleared of activists, and the forest now stands ready to be cut down.

A forest in Western Germany, about an hour's drive from Cologne, is an arena these days, in a heated struggle between climate and capitalism. It's a struggle between environmental activists and a large energy company, RWE, who plans to clear swathes of one of Europe's oldest forest, the Hambach forest, to extract the lignite hidden just beneath the ground surface.
It's a controversial decision, as lignite is one of the most polluting fossil fuels.

Protests opposed to the clearing of the forest have been ongoing for years. The last 6 years, the environmental activists have lived in tree huts 25 metres above ground, and since September, the protests have intensified.
But for now, the activists have lost the battle. The last huts were cleared yesterday, and the area cordoned off with police tape and "No entry"-signs.
There has been several clashes between the police and protesters after the police initiated an operation to clear the activist's camp in the forest. Sunday after Sunday, several thousands of citizens and activists have shown up in the forest in an attempt to stop the impending clearing.

According to RWE, who owns the Hambach forest, they will begin clearing about 100 acres of the forest to make way for the extraction of the lignite. RWE has declined to give an exact date, however.
Last year, RWE was granted permission by the court to clear the forest, which was once one of the biggest natural reserves in the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen, and which is home to about 140 endangered animal species and some of Europe's oldest trees. Almost 90% of the forest has already been cleared.

RWE's opponents accuse the company of sacrificing the future of the climate for profit.
"They don't want to lose their investors, so they want to use lignite far into the future", said one activist to Deutsche Welle.
The state of Nordrhein-Westfalen is also facing criticism for allowing the clearing of the forest.
"It is outrageous that the state protects the company's profits and not the environment", said Karolina Drzewo from the anti-coal group 'Ende Gelände'.

Germany is both the biggest producer and consumer of lignite in the world. About a quarter of the country's electricity comes from the polluting energy source. But there are political powers in the country working to change that.
The usage of lignite means Germany will not be able to meet it's 2020 deadline to limit their CO2 emissions. Several experts points to the closure of the much debated lignite mines as Germany's only chance to live up to these goals.

The development of green energy is a political priority - but the question concerning coal is still hotly debated in Germany, and a commission, comprised of climate experts and politicians, has been established to determine a deadline for the out-phasing of coal.
The commission's task is to find a difficult balance between protecting the climate, and the economic consequences that will follow when the large coal-industry is closed. The commission has been accused of weighing the ~20.000 jobs in the lignite-industry higher than the future of the climate.
Some members of the commission, however, have suggested that the clearing of the Hambach forest be put on pause until a deadline for the out-phasing of coal has been put in place.

To give you an idea of just polluting ignite is, it is quite literally the most polluting and simultaneously the least effective coal in the world.

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If only there existed a dependable baseload power source that's safe and doesn't emit CO2... I wonder if Germany ever had such a thing before throwing it away due to scaremongering. Nah, nobody would be that stupid.

[ViralHatred]

What is silly is that if they really don't want a nuclear power plant in their country, why not outsource it? Get France to build one across the border and pay them for it.

Here in the UK we already buy surplus energy from French reactors to help with our energy shortfalls.