Germany and coal

Germany is widely seen as a world leader in the fight against climate change. Thanks to its investments in renewable power, wind and solar energy provide a third of its electricity, more than double the U.S. share. Germany’s goal to lower carbon-dioxide emissions 40 percent by 2020 is significantly more ambitious than that of Europe as a whole or the U.S.

But there’s another, troubling side to the German story: The country still gets 40 percent of its energy from coal, a bigger share than most other European countries. And much of it is lignite, the dirtiest kind of coal. As a result, Germany is set to fall well short of its 2020 goal. This dependence on coal is partly a side effect of Germany’s abandonment of emissions-free nuclear power and partly foot-dragging on the part of a government wary of alienating voters in German coal country.

Suddenly, though, the politics have changed. Angela Merkel is struggling to form a new government, and the Green Party, one of three would-be coalition partners, is insisting that coal-fired power plants start to close — the 20 dirtiest ones right away. This wouldn’t solve the problem, but it would put Germany on a path to serious emissions reductions, and it’s the only way to bring that 2020 emissions target back in sight.

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