Germany Corrects Trump on Energy Policy—'PS: We Also Don't Eat Cats and Dogs'
"We are shutting down—not building—coal and nuclear plants," the German foreign ministry said. "Coal will be off the grid by 2038 at the latest."
By Edward Carver From Common Dreams
The German foreign ministry on Wednesday issued a rejoinder to Republican nominee Donald Trump's debate claim that Germany had reverted back to a "normal" energy policy after, as he implied, failing to transition away from fossil fuels.
Near the end of the televised presidential debate, Trump addressed Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, saying:
"You believe in things that the American people don't believe in. You believe in things like we're not going to frack. We're not going to take fossil fuel. We're not going to do, things that are going to make this country strong, whether you like it or not. Germany tried that and within one year they were back to building normal energy plants."
The Germans replied forcefully and included a snarky reference to Trump's baseless claim, made earlier in the debate, that immigrants were eating Americans' pets.
"Like it or not: Germany’s energy system is fully operational, with more than 50% renewables," the German foreign ministry, which is led by Annalena Baerbock of the country's green party as part of a coalition arrangement, wrote on social media. "And we are shutting down—not building—coal and nuclear plants. Coal will be off the grid by 2038 at the latest. PS: We also don't eat cats and dogs."
TIME AGAIN AND AGAIN, WITH HIS COMMENTS, HIS GARBAGE TALK AGAINST RENEWABLES, ELECTRIC CARS AND WINDPOWER, I SEE TRUMPS HEAD UP THE FOSSIL FUEL CARTELS ARSE= TRUMP FOLLOWS THE MONEY, THATS ALL HE CARES ABOUT, HIMSELF!!! DESTROY OUR ONLY PLANET FOR MONEY, EVIL, EVIL LITTLE MAN.
HE SUCKS UP TO CEO’S, SAYING TO THEM AT MAR LAGO, GIVE ME A BILLION AND I WILL UNDO ALL OF BIDENS CLIMATE GREEN ENERGY AND WITH IT, ITS JOB CREATION INITIATIVES
"The former president is not famous for his grasp of the finer details of European energy policy," Bernd Radowitz wrote Wednesday in Recharge, a trade news publication.
Radowitz and other commentators took Trump's "normal" to mean fossil fuel-driven energy production.
"As usual with Trump, it takes some patience to interpret his incoherent line of argument, but what most U.S. viewers and potential voters likely understood from this statement is that Germany tried to ditch fossil fuels, but within a year had to give that up. The assumption here is also that Trump by 'normal energy plants' meant fossil-fired generation."
Germany has since 2010 undertaken an Energiewiende aimed at drawing down on fossil fuel use and nuclear-powered energy and ramping up renewables. The transition plan hit a rough patch in 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia had supplied more than half of Germany's natural gas, as well as some of its oil and coal. German authorities turned some nuclear plants back on, added more coal consumption into the energy mix, and imported more natural gas from elsewhere, drawing criticism from climate campaigners.
However, those changes were meant to be temporary and Germany has since made progress on implementing its green transition plans. In March, the government declared itself on target to reach its 2030 climate goals. Over 60% of the country's electricity was powered by renewables in the first half of this year, a marked increase from 2022.
The foreign ministry's social media post had been viewed by over 1 million people as of Wednesday morning. It was not entirely clear why the ministry raised Trump's pet remarks, which were seemingly aimed at immigrants of color from low-income countries. Trump's claim, which The New York Timescalled "false and outlandish," was based on a rumor that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating pets for sustenance. Trump's running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), had spread the racist rumors on Monday.
As president, Trump had a scratchy relationship with Germany, which he frequently criticized for its export surplus to the U.S. and its lack of defense spending. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, of the center-left Social Democratic Party, made remarks in July that indicated that he hoped Harris would win the election. Scholz, who's held office since 2021, had last year endorsed President Joe Biden for reelection, speaking in unusually direct terms about the U.S. race.
Robert Reich-Instead of the word “regulation,” substitute the word “protection.” These guardrails protect us from unsafe products, dangerous workplaces, harmful foods, unsafe drugs, fraud, monopolization, unfair labor practices, and environmental hazards.
When Trump (and Musk) equate regulations with waste or inefficiency, what they’re really saying is that big corporations ought to be able to wreak as much harm on the public as they want, if doing so enlarges their profits.
Obviously, Trump’s corporate backers couldn’t be happier.
The Supreme Court, now dominated by Republican appointees, has already been doing the bidding of big corporations seeking to quash regulations. Its June 28 ruling Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which should have received far more attention that it did, ended the 40-year-old precedent of what’s called “Chevron deference.”
What this means is that from now on, rather than deferring to the expertise of expert agencies on how to interpret ambiguous language in laws, federal judges have the power to decide what a law means for themselves. Despite not being accountable to the people, judges will be able to expand their role into the realm of policymaking.
You can bet that big corporations will “forum shop” for judges that will minimize any and all public protections that prevent big corporations from maximizing their profits.
“In one fell swoop, the majority today gives itself exclusive power over every open issue — no matter how expertise-driven or policy-laden — involving the meaning of regulatory law,” wrote Justice Elena Kagan in her dissent from the ruling. “As if it did not have enough on its plate, the majority turns itself into the country’s administrative czar.”
Isn’t it funny that when you dig into the facts you find out what a liar Trump is. Germany is advancing their green energy agenda while we are still struggling to get some agreement on whether Trump incited a mob to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6th. Right now Congress is loaded with idiots who continue to support this nonsense!