Der Spiegel: How German Electricity Became A Luxury Item.

[kristopher]

15. What do you think of Canada Free Press?

They are a hard right wing news site in Canada. The reason I mention them is to bring the nature of your positions into focus. I've said many times that you are pushing right wing memes on the nature of the energy debate, and I say it now again. Your claims of caring about the poor while promoting false information about renewable energy and nuclear are simply not tenable. You've been posting the same abusive screeds for years, and it is time to draw the correlation between your arguments and the wider group of people who embrace them in a more honest fashion. Neither of the lists below were winnowed from a larger pool of material, they accurately represent the consistent coverage that interests the readership of that putrid site.
Now, I doubt most people here would question the fact that the viewpoint this site typifies cares very little for facts or accuracy. That lack of credibility doesn't suddenly disappear when a rabid fan of nuclear power consistently brings those same false right wing arguments onto DU and cloaks their intent with rude diatribes about "the poor" intended to belittle the motives of DUers who know that renewable energy is a tool of common people while nuclear is, in fact, the flagship of centralized control of energy.

The fact is that the bulk of support for nuclear energy comes from the same group of people who support more coal, more petroleum, and more natural gas. Yes, there are a few on the progressive side of the fence who, like Hansen, arrive at their conclusions based on climate change, but you'll not hear that group attacking renewable energy sources in the manner shown on the right-wing echo vhamber sampled below.

My apologies to other DUers for dragging here material from a right wing cesspool, but the point needs to be demonstrated, not just asserted.


Their motto:

Welcome to Canada Free Press
...Because without America there is no Free World

A partial list of their choice of coverage on their front page right now. I think it gives a great sample of their perspective, don't you?

Cover Stories, News

The Vatican and the Poor
By Jonathon Moseley
Pope Pius XI: No one can be at the same time a good Catholic and a true socialist

‘President Latch-on’ knows how to find the limelight
By Judi McLeod
There should be no Me, Me, Me invading anybody's funeral

Egyptians’ right of protest is now regulated or obstructed?
By Dr. Ashraf Ramelah
The one question no one seems to be asking is what will happen if a protest permit is denied

West Antarctic Ice Melt; Water or Fire?
By Timothy Birdnow
Volcanoes Melting Antarctic Ice



American Politics, Freedom, Canadian Politics

Lies, Lawlessness and License – The Obama Legacy?
By Rev. Michael Bresciani
How much approval can Barack Obama win from God or America for subverting an entire nation?

– removing voters from government decision-making
By Rolf Yungclas
We can’t afford to let our freedom continue to be eroded and replaced by a central authority that tells us what to do

Walmart Encourages Grinch Accusations
By Michael R. Shannon
Unions, Black Friday, Large Retailer Accountability Act, Associates in Critical Need Trust

Politico Magazine: Obama NEVER met one-on-one with Kathleen Sebelius from 2010-2013
By Robert Laurie
Too busy for his all-important 'signature legislation?'

Obama administration about to give wind farms a free pass on killing bald eagles
By Robert Laurie
'Green energy' trumps protected national symbols, or something

Sarah Palin for US Senate
By Arthur Christopher Schaper
She is no King (or Queen) Maker in elections, but would she be an excellent US Senate candidate

Congress Wants to Tax Your Christmas Tree
By Heritage Foundation--Amy Payne
Congress might as well throw in a jingle bell tax, too

You’re Too Old for MRI under Obama Care
By Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh
It is foreseeable that by 2015, most private plans will be gone, replaced by a single-payer IRS/HHS government-run insurance

Now that we've established what it is these CFR folks actually value in life, let's look at some of their other coverage, this time on the topic of energy.

The list was taken from a site search using /germany energy/. The stories included are only the top part of the list, there are many more. I limited myself to how many tabs I could open in my browser before it starting hiding them.

Conventional Power Plants Increasingly Uneconomic
Germany’s Energy Chaos

By Guest Column Dr. Benny Peise

As Germany shifts towards green energy, even the operation of nuclear reactors is now becoming uneconomic. The operators of Germany’s nuclear power plants are considering to shut them down early. However, the nuclear reactors are indispensable for the security of electricity supply in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. “The Federal Government would then be in the highly embarrassing situation of having to ban the decommissioning of nuclear power plants,” said Stephan Kohler, head of the German Energy Agency.—Daniel Wetzel, Die Welt, 14 August 2013

One of the world’s biggest green-energy public-policy experiments is coming to a bitter end in Germany
Germany’s Energy Lesson

By Jack Dini (Bio and Archives)

Germany’s experiment with subsidizing inefficient solar technology has failed. “One of the world’s biggest green-energy public-policy experiments is coming to a bitter end in Germany, with important lessons for policymakers elsewhere,” reports Bjorn Lomborg. (1)

Germany once prided itself on being the ‘photovoltaic world champion’, doling out generous subsidies—totaling more than $130 billion to citizens to invest in solar energy. But now the German government is vowing to cut the subsidies sooner than planned, and to phase out support over the next five years.

Solar power is at least four times more costly than energy produced by fossil fuels. It also has the distinct disadvantage of not working at night, when much electricity is consumed. Also, on short, overcast winter days, the 1.1 million solar-power systems can generate no electricity at all. The country is then forced to import considerable amounts of electricity from nuclear power plants in France and the Czech Republic. (1)

Defenders of Germany’s solar subsidies claim that they have helped to create ‘green jobs.’ But each green job created by green energy policies cost an average $175,000, while some are as high as $240,000.(2) And many ‘green jobs’ are being exported to China, meaning that Europeans subsidize Chinese jobs, with no CO2 reductions...

Americans should watch what is happening in Germany regarding the electricity rate base and in other parts of Europe, such as Spain, in their march to build renewable power
Germany’s Energy Policy: Man-Made Crisis Now Costing Billions
By Institute for Energy Research (Bio and Archives) Tuesday, October 30, 2012


The German people are “up in arms” about energy. Yes, energy—the commodity that affects us every day—our clothes, our food, our entertainment, our transportation, and even our medical treatments. For Germans, electricity prices are soaring as a result of phasing out nuclear power and mandating renewable energy. Consumers in Germany are facing the biggest electricity price increase in a decade and those price increases will continue. It is estimated that by 2030, Germany will have spent more than 300 billion Euros on green electricity. And consumer groups are complaining that about 800,000 German households can no longer pay for their energy bills.

If this rise in energy prices continues, household energy bills could exceed the rent Germans pay for housing in parts of the country. Because renewable technologies are not economic compared to traditional fossil fuel technologies, Germans have had and will continue to pay an additional increasing premium for their use. Because of this premium, electricity prices are expected to increase by over 10 percent next year—the largest increase in a decade. Americans should watch what is happening in Germany regarding the electricity rate base and in other parts of Europe, such as Spain, in their march to build renewable power.

The German Electricity Sector
The German government wants 80 percent of its energy to be produced by renewable sources by 2050; biomass, wind, and solar currently make up about 25 percent of the country’s electricity supply. The country has begun to take fossil fuel power stations offline and is planning to phase out nuclear energy by 2022. However, the cost of these changes has resulted in up to 800,000 households not being able to pay their bills and placed a strain on existing capacity in the electrical grid. Although Germany has made significant investment in wind and solar power, it faces an energy shortfall, partly because it has insufficient transmission lines to bring wind power from the North Sea to the industrial centers in the south and partly because the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow...(i)

German Energy Giants Threaten Shutdown Of Power Plants
Germany’s Looming Energy Disaster

By Guest Column Dr. Benny Peiser (Bio and Archives) Tuesday, July 16, 2013

German operators of coal and gas power plants are sounding the alarm: the operation of many power plants is no longer profitable as a result of the green energy transition. Dozens of plants could be closed down, the industry warns. Of approximately 90,000 megawatts of conventional power capacity in Germany up to 20 percent could be shut down, the newspaper quoted the CEO of a utility. In the worst case scenario, Germany would face blackouts. So far, the Federal Network Agency has received 15 applications to close down power plants, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reports. E.ON, the largest energy company in Germany, has decided to close down eleven power plants in Europe by 2015. Its competitor RWE announced similar shut down plans.—Reuters, 16 July 2013

Skyrocketing electricity prices are making electricity unaffordable for a large number of Germans
Germany’s Green Energy Policy Hit Households Hard

By Jack Dini (Bio and Archives) Sunday, June 10, 2012

Many people in Germany are no longer able to pay their electricity bills. Skyrocketing electricity prices are making electricity unaffordable for a large number of Germans. The past year over 600,000 households had their power switched off in Germany because they can’t afford the skyrocketing electric bills.(1)

It’s one way of reducing carbon emissions—just catapult your population back to the Stone Age. This is not a joke. For example, while Germany, Poland and Great Britain were responsible for 56% of the greenhouse gas emission increase in 2010 (a 2.4% jump from 2009), three countries that have crashed economically, Greece, Spain and Portugal, had large emissions savings. (2)

The upward trend in electricity prices in Germany has continued unabated in the first half of 2012. Since January, about 420 suppliers have increased their prices by an average of 3.5 percent. (3)

According to a recent study, the green energy transition could cost German consumers up to 60 percent more by 2020 compared to 2011. Overall, the renewables costs may total 175 billion euros by 2020. (4) So farm Germany has committed over 100 billion euros to renewable energy, all to be paid for by the consumer. Little wonder that today almost a seventh of Germany’s population is now living in ‘energy poverty’. (1)

High use of renewable energy in eastern Germany driven by government green energy policies is causing instability to its own electric grid
Germany’s Green Energy Destabilizing Electric Grids

By Institute for Energy Research (Bio and Archives) Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Germany is phasing out its nuclear plants in favor of wind and solar energy backed-up by coal power. The government’s transition to these intermittent green energy technologies is causing havoc with its electric grid and that of its neighbors—countries that are now building switches to turn off their connection with Germany at their borders.

The intermittent power is causing destabilization of the electric grids causing potential blackouts, weakening voltage and causing damage to industrial equipment.

The instability of the electric grid is just one of many issues that the German government is facing regarding its move to intermittent renewable technologies. As we have previously reported, residential electricity prices in Germany are some of the highest in Europe and are increasing dramatically (currently Germans pay 34 cents a kilowatt hour compared to an average of 12 cents in the United States). This year German electricity rates are about to increase by over 10 percent due mainly to a surcharge for using more renewable energy and a further 30 to 50 percent price increase is expected in the next ten years. These changes in the electricity generation market have caused about 800,000 German households to no longer be able to afford their energy bills...

Government Fears Voter Anger About Electricity Prices Explosion
Germany’s Green Energy Panic

By Guest Column Dr. Benny Peiser (Bio and Archives) Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Germany’s revolutionary switch to renewable energies is stalling and the country’s new environment minister has now admitted as much by casting doubt on the ambitious goals set last year.—Spiegel Online, 17 July 2012

Is the green energy transition crumbling? The German government fears the price explosion - and punishment by voters. Concern about rising electricity prices is politically understandable. Because with all due sympathy for nuclear phase-out and green energy - if their own money is involved, many citizens do not care much about their green principles anymore. And since the green energy transformation is one of the key projects of Chancellor Angela Merkel, the voters’ anger about price increases could also be expressed by withdrawing of support for those responsible in the general election in 2013. This is at least what many in the coalition government fear. Philipp Wittrock and Florian Gathmann, Spiegel Online, 17 July 2012...

Germany has put the closure of all its nuclear reactors on the fast track since the Fukushima accident and will use climate fund cash to build coal and natural gas plants
Germany’s Green Energy Fiascos

By Jack Dini (Bio and Archives) Thursday, June 14, 2012

Germany, one of the countries that leads the world in preaching the global warming doctrine and insists the rest of the world do as it says, should re-evaluate itself in regards to its environmental on-goings.

Their newest goal is to minimize their ecological footprint. Thursdays are veggie days, and old-fashioned, hand-cranked washing machines are back in vogue. Websites offer environmental tips for all kinds of situations, from cosmetics based on the phases of the moon to vibrators made of plastic without chemical softeners. There are urns made of cornstarch and coffins made in an environmentally correct manner—a final good deed before everything turns to compost. They buy organic food, put E10 in their gas tanks and switch to green electricity. Their roofs are covered in solar panels and walls are plastered with insulation. This makes them feel good about themselves, reports Alexander Neubacher. (1)

He adds, “When something benefits the environment, the need to justify it suddenly disappears. The green label eliminates all controversy. And political parties are essentially in agreement that society cannot do enough for the environment. No progressive politician wants to expose himself to the career-ending suspicion that he lacks environmental consciousness. However, on closer inspection, some of the ‘environmental friendly’ issues aren’t working out so well.” (1)

According to the rules of Germany’s dual system of waste management, when yogurt containers are put into the recycling bin, they have to be ‘completely empty,’ drop-free’, and ‘spoon-clean.'...

Virtually everything claimed in the stories from the above energy list is just as distorted, inaccurate and agenda driven as the stories front page stories listed above them.

If anyone wants to verify this information, you'll have to google it, I won't post a link here as that has (wisely) long been against DU policy; and there is are darned good reasons for that, IMO.