Steam rises into the air from the Schwarze Pumpe power station, in Germany’s Lausitz industrial region.
| Photo Credit: AFP
White clouds still billow from the cooling towers of a coal plant near Spremberg in Germany’s ex-communist east but the end is in sight as Berlin phases out the fossil fuel.
Thousands of jobs have already been lost in the region, where wind farms now rise near abandoned open-pit mines and many people look with dread towards 2038, the deadline for the “coal exit”.
Their fears help explain the strong local support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which does not just rail against migrants but also rejects the green energy push and questions man-made climate change.
At local elections held in Spremberg in June, the AfD scored 39.3% — an omen ahead of regional elections next Sunday in the State of Brandenburg, which polls suggest it could win.
Lignite, or brown coal, may be a climate killer, but since the 19th century it has been key to the identity of Germany’s Lausitz industrial region on the Polish border.
“Thousands of people here have been linked to coal their whole working lives,” said the town’s Mayor, Christine Herntier, an independent who has held the post for a decade.
“We are proud of our tradition,” said Ms. Herntier, 67, pointing to a huge map on her office wall of the Schwarze Pumpe plant and its surrounding industrial complex.
Most people in Spremberg, population 25,000, have grudgingly accepted the coal phase-out plan, under which the government has earmarked billions for structural transition plans, she said.
But, she added, ahead of the State election the winding down of coal “is still a big issue”.
‘People want change’
“I’m definitely not an AfD supporter but I can understand people who are,” said Joachim Paschke, 81, who used to work in mechanical engineering and welding. “The established parties have nothing concrete and the AfD is offering something different. People want change.”
Michael Hanko, the AfD’s top representative in Spremberg, said he is certain that the looming demise of the lignite industry is “one of the main reasons” residents are voting for his party.
“I do not think the government has really got them on board with this whole prescribed transformation, saying that we now have to do everything with renewable energies,” Mr. Hanko said.
The AfD, founded about a decade ago, scored a triumph earlier this month when it won an election in the eastern State of Thuringia and came a close second in Saxony.
It now also has a good chance of winning in Brandenburg, the State that surrounds Berlin, where it is polling narrowly in first place at around 27%.
When the German government decided five years ago to phase out coal, it pledged around 40 billion euros to help coal regions adapt, with 17 billion euros for the Lausitz alone.
Much of the money is intended to flow into developing the renewables and hydrogen sectors, helping the region maintain its identity as an energy hub.
But residents complain the investment has been too slow to materialise and is flowing into the wrong places.
Already weary from the problems caused by reunification, people in the region have felt “overwhelmed” by recent global challenges, said Lars Katzmarek, a board member of the Pro-Lausitz campaign group.
Coal has long been synonymous with the Lausitz region where lignite was discovered in the late 18th century.
Today, only around 8,000 people are employed in the lignite industry across the Lausitz, with 4,500 of them in Brandenburg.
Published – September 18, 2024 07:35 am IST
