Mugged By Reality, Germany’s Climate Consensus Is Collapsing

Germany’s utopian dream of transforming itself into the world’s green powerhouse is collapsing as its political and media establishment is mugged by reality. The country’s climate obsession has turned into one of the country’s biggest political and economic handicaps, making Germany almost ungovernable.

Germany faced a political crisis after a month of four-party exploratory talks about forming a so-called Jamaica coalition collapsed late on Sunday night. For the first time since the Weimar Republic (1919-1933), German parties with a majority in parliament are unwilling to form a Government. Nobody knows what happens next or how this deepening crisis can be solved anytime soon. –Benny Peiser, Global Warming Policy Forum, 20 November 2017

Chancellor Angela Merkel was left battling for political survival on Monday after high-stakes talks to form a new government collapsed, plunging Germany into a crisis that could trigger fresh elections. And with no other viable coalition in sight, Germany may be forced to hold new elections that risk being as inconclusive as September’s polls. While the Green Party demanded to phase out coal power and combustion-engine cars, the conservatives and FDP emphasized the need to protect industry and jobs. —AFP, 20 November 2017

Something big happened yesterday in Berlin just before midnight — big for Germany, for Europe, perhaps even for the world, but above all for the person who has of late been considered the leader of the free world: Chancellor Angela Merkel. For 12 eventful years, mostly overshadowed by crises, Ms. Merkel has honed an impressive talent for political survival and for facilitating compromise among people — whether domestic politicians or foreign leaders — who are natural adversaries. But late on Sunday, November 19, this reputation took a hit from which she may never fully recover. When future historians look back at the Merkel era, they will choose this date as the beginning of its end. —Handelsblatt, 20 November 2017

American climate-change activists point to Europe, and especially Germany, as the paragon of green energy virtue. But they ought to look closer at Angela Merkel’s political struggles as she tries to form a new government in Berlin amid the economic fallout from the Chancellor’s failing energy revolution. Berlin last month conceded it will miss its 2020 carbon emissions-reduction goal, having cut emissions by just under 30% compared with 1990 instead of the 40% that Mrs. Merkel promised. The goal of 55% by 2030 is almost surely out of reach. —Editorial, The Wall Street Journal, 18 November 2017

Coal emerged as the surprise winner from two weeks of international climate talks in Germany, with leaders of the host country and neighboring Poland joining Donald Trump in support of the dirtiest fossil fuel. —Bloomberg, 18 November 2017

Britain is threatening the future of EU climate change legislation after a ‘Brexit no deal’ clause was added to a bill being voted on in Brussels this week. The clause would ban British industry from selling its carbon emission allowances on the market after Brexit in the event of no deal. —The Sunday Telegraph, 19 November 2017