Greta Thunberg dragged from coal mine protest by police
'We can’t accept that RWE, a fossil fuel company, can do deals with the government and threaten countless lives across the world,' says Greta Thunberg - David Young/Bild
Jorg Luyken
Mon, 16 January 2023
Greta Thunberg has criticised Germany’s Green Party for allying with a fossil fuel company, after police carried her and other climate protesters away from a village that is due to make way for an expanding coal mine.
Speaking at the edge of the protests in the village of Lützerath in the Rhine region, Ms Thunberg accused the Greens of hypocrisy, saying: "They took part in the demonstrations to save Lützerath and then sacrificed Lützerath.”
Ms Thunberg told broadcaster ARD: “We can’t accept that RWE, a fossil fuel company, can do deals with the government and threaten countless lives across the world.”
The environmental campaigner, 20, travelled to Germany last week to join protesters who had occupied the deserted village, which is situated at the edge of a huge open cast mine owned by energy firm RWE and due to be expanded.
Greta Thunberg says the German Greens have 'sacrificed Lüzerath'
Jorg Luyken
Mon, 16 January 2023
Greta Thunberg has criticised Germany’s Green Party for allying with a fossil fuel company, after police carried her and other climate protesters away from a village that is due to make way for an expanding coal mine.
Speaking at the edge of the protests in the village of Lützerath in the Rhine region, Ms Thunberg accused the Greens of hypocrisy, saying: "They took part in the demonstrations to save Lützerath and then sacrificed Lützerath.”
Ms Thunberg told broadcaster ARD: “We can’t accept that RWE, a fossil fuel company, can do deals with the government and threaten countless lives across the world.”
The environmental campaigner, 20, travelled to Germany last week to join protesters who had occupied the deserted village, which is situated at the edge of a huge open cast mine owned by energy firm RWE and due to be expanded.
Greta Thunberg says the German Greens have 'sacrificed Lüzerath'
- Federico Gambarini/dpa via AP
On Sunday, police carried Thunberg away after she refused to leave a sit-in at the edge of the mine.
German police spent much of last week clearing hundreds of protesters from the village, but two activists who had shut themselves inside an improvised tunnel were still holding out on Monday morning.
Robert Habeck, Germany’s energy minister, announced the deal with RWE last autumn, describing it as a “milestone” for climate protection.
RWE agreed to waive its right to dig up coal under five further villages in the surrounding countryside and to stop all coal mining in the Rhine region in 2030, eight years earlier than planned.
Under the deal, RWE agreed to keep two large coal-fired plants running for an extra 15 months to temper the effects of Russia cutting gas supplies to Germany.
Greta Thunberg is taken away by officers after joining the coal mine protest in Germany
On Sunday, police carried Thunberg away after she refused to leave a sit-in at the edge of the mine.
German police spent much of last week clearing hundreds of protesters from the village, but two activists who had shut themselves inside an improvised tunnel were still holding out on Monday morning.
Robert Habeck, Germany’s energy minister, announced the deal with RWE last autumn, describing it as a “milestone” for climate protection.
RWE agreed to waive its right to dig up coal under five further villages in the surrounding countryside and to stop all coal mining in the Rhine region in 2030, eight years earlier than planned.
Under the deal, RWE agreed to keep two large coal-fired plants running for an extra 15 months to temper the effects of Russia cutting gas supplies to Germany.
Greta Thunberg is taken away by officers after joining the coal mine protest in Germany
- David Young/Bild
This week, Mr Habeck accused protesters of picking “the wrong symbol” in Lützerath, claiming that the village stood for the end of coal mining in the region.
But climate activists have seethed at the fact that the environmentalist party has prioritised securing energy supplies over what they say see as the more critical fight against climate change.
Protesters point to studies that suggest Germany will overshoot its climate obligations under the Paris protocols if it continues to mine the coal found in the Rhine region.
This week, Mr Habeck accused protesters of picking “the wrong symbol” in Lützerath, claiming that the village stood for the end of coal mining in the region.
But climate activists have seethed at the fact that the environmentalist party has prioritised securing energy supplies over what they say see as the more critical fight against climate change.
Protesters point to studies that suggest Germany will overshoot its climate obligations under the Paris protocols if it continues to mine the coal found in the Rhine region.
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