Germany to end coal use by 2038

Not soon enough, critics say

The controversial most modern Uniper Datteln 4 coal-powered plant steams one month after the operational start in Datteln, Germany, Friday, July 3, 2020. The state governors Dietmar Woidke of Brandenburg, Michael Kretschmer of Saxony, Reiner Haseloff of Saxony-Anhalt and Armin Laschet of North Rhine-Westphalia meet in Berlin for the adoption by the Bundestag and Bundesrat of the laws on coal phase-out and structural strengthening in the affected federal states. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
The controversial most modern Uniper Datteln 4 coal-powered plant steams one month after the operational start in Datteln, Germany, Friday, July 3, 2020. The state governors Dietmar Woidke of Brandenburg, Michael Kretschmer of Saxony, Reiner Haseloff of Saxony-Anhalt and Armin Laschet of North Rhine-Westphalia meet in Berlin for the adoption by the Bundestag and Bundesrat of the laws on coal phase-out and structural strengthening in the affected federal states. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

BERLIN -- German lawmakers have finalized the country's long-awaited phase-out of coal as an energy source, backing a plan that environmental groups say isn't ambitious enough and free marketeers criticize as a waste of taxpayers' money.

Bills approved by both houses of parliament Friday envision shutting down the last coal-fired power plant by 2038 and spending some $45 billion to help affected regions cope with the transition.

The plan is part of Germany's "energy transition" -- an effort to wean Europe's biggest economy off fossil fuels and generate all of the country's considerable energy needs from renewable sources. Achieving that goal is made harder than in comparable countries such as France and Britain because of Germany's existing commitment to also phase out nuclear power by the end of 2022.

"The days of coal are numbered in Germany," Environment Minister Svenja Schulze said. "Germany is the first industrialized country that leaves behind both nuclear energy and coal."

Greenpeace and other environmental groups have staged vocal protests against the plan, including by dropping a banner down the front of the Reichstag building Friday. They argue that the government's road map won't reduce Germany's greenhouse gas emissions fast enough to meet the targets set out in the Paris climate accord.

"Germany, the country that burns the greatest amount of lignite coal worldwide, will burden the next generation with 18 more years of carbon dioxide," Greenpeace Germany's executive director Martin Kaiser told The Associated Press.

Kaiser, who was part of a government-appointed expert commission, accused Chancellor Angela Merkel of making a "historic mistake," saying an end date for coal of 2030 would have sent a strong signal for European and global climate policy. Merkel has said she wants Europe to be the first continent to end its greenhouse gas emissions, by 2050.

Germany closed its last black coal mine in 2018, but it continues to import the fuel and extract its own reserves of lignite, a brownish coal that is abundant in the west and east of the country. Officials warn that the loss of mining jobs could hurt those economically fragile regions, though efforts are already under way to turn the vast lignite mines into nature reserves and lakeside resorts.

Schulze, the environment minister, said there would be regular government reviews to examine whether the end date for coal can be brought forward. She noted that by the end of 2022, eight of the country's most polluting coal-fired plants will have already been closed.

Environmentalists have also criticized the large sums being offered to coal companies to shut down their plants, a complaint shared by libertarians such as Germany's opposition Free Democratic Party.

Katja Suding, a leading FDP lawmaker, said the government should have opted to expand existing emissions trading systems that put a price on carbon, thereby encouraging operators to shut down unprofitable coal plants.

"You just have to make it so expensive that it's not profitable anymore to turn coal into electricity," she said.

Information for this article was contributed by David Rising of The Associated Press.

The controversial most modern Uniper Datteln 4 coal-powered plant steams behind a corn field one month after the operational start in Datteln, Germany, Friday, July 3, 2020. The state governors Dietmar Woidke of Brandenburg, Michael Kretschmer of Saxony, Reiner Haseloff of Saxony-Anhalt and Armin Laschet of North Rhine-Westphalia meet in Berlin for the adoption by the Bundestag and Bundesrat of the laws on coal phase-out and structural strengthening in the affected federal states. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
The controversial most modern Uniper Datteln 4 coal-powered plant steams behind a corn field one month after the operational start in Datteln, Germany, Friday, July 3, 2020. The state governors Dietmar Woidke of Brandenburg, Michael Kretschmer of Saxony, Reiner Haseloff of Saxony-Anhalt and Armin Laschet of North Rhine-Westphalia meet in Berlin for the adoption by the Bundestag and Bundesrat of the laws on coal phase-out and structural strengthening in the affected federal states. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
FILE-In this Nov. 24, 2019 file photo supporters of the climate movement Ende Gelaende protest at the coal-fired power station Lippendorf near Leipzig, Germany. The state governors Dietmar Woidke of Brandenburg, Michael Kretschmer of Saxony, Reiner Haseloff of Saxony-Anhalt and Armin Laschet of North Rhine-Westphalia meet in Berlin for the adoption by the Bundestag and Bundesrat of the laws on coal phase-out and structural strengthening in the affected federal states. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)
FILE-In this Nov. 24, 2019 file photo supporters of the climate movement Ende Gelaende protest at the coal-fired power station Lippendorf near Leipzig, Germany. The state governors Dietmar Woidke of Brandenburg, Michael Kretschmer of Saxony, Reiner Haseloff of Saxony-Anhalt and Armin Laschet of North Rhine-Westphalia meet in Berlin for the adoption by the Bundestag and Bundesrat of the laws on coal phase-out and structural strengthening in the affected federal states. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)
FILE - In this Aug. 27, 2018 file photo a bucket wheel digs for coal near the Hambach Forest near Dueren, Germany. Germany's greenhouse gas emissions fell sharply last year, putting the country's 2020 climate goal within reach again. The state governors Dietmar Woidke of Brandenburg, Michael Kretschmer of Saxony, Reiner Haseloff of Saxony-Anhalt and Armin Laschet of North Rhine-Westphalia meet in Berlin for the adoption by the Bundestag and Bundesrat of the laws on coal phase-out and structural strengthening in the affected federal states. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
FILE - In this Aug. 27, 2018 file photo a bucket wheel digs for coal near the Hambach Forest near Dueren, Germany. Germany's greenhouse gas emissions fell sharply last year, putting the country's 2020 climate goal within reach again. The state governors Dietmar Woidke of Brandenburg, Michael Kretschmer of Saxony, Reiner Haseloff of Saxony-Anhalt and Armin Laschet of North Rhine-Westphalia meet in Berlin for the adoption by the Bundestag and Bundesrat of the laws on coal phase-out and structural strengthening in the affected federal states. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Activists of Greepeace have covered the headquarters of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cristian Democratic Party (CDU) with black panels to protest against the party's coal policy in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, July 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
Activists of Greepeace have covered the headquarters of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cristian Democratic Party (CDU) with black panels to protest against the party's coal policy in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, July 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
FILE-In this June 5, 2018 file photo, steam rises in the air from the brown coal power plant Schwarze Pumpe in the Lusatia, (Lausitz) area in Germany. The state governors Dietmar Woidke of Brandenburg, Michael Kretschmer of Saxony, Reiner Haseloff of Saxony-Anhalt and Armin Laschet of North Rhine-Westphalia meet in Berlin for the adoption by the Bundestag and Bundesrat of the laws on coal phase-out and structural strengthening in the affected federal states. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
FILE-In this June 5, 2018 file photo, steam rises in the air from the brown coal power plant Schwarze Pumpe in the Lusatia, (Lausitz) area in Germany. The state governors Dietmar Woidke of Brandenburg, Michael Kretschmer of Saxony, Reiner Haseloff of Saxony-Anhalt and Armin Laschet of North Rhine-Westphalia meet in Berlin for the adoption by the Bundestag and Bundesrat of the laws on coal phase-out and structural strengthening in the affected federal states. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Activists of Greenpeace extendet the inscription 'Dem deutschen Volke' (To the German People) on top of the entrance of the Reichstag building, home of the German parliament Bundestag, with the slogan 'Eine Zukunft Ohne Kohlekraft' (a future without coal power) in Berlin, Germany, Friday, July 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
Activists of Greenpeace extendet the inscription 'Dem deutschen Volke' (To the German People) on top of the entrance of the Reichstag building, home of the German parliament Bundestag, with the slogan 'Eine Zukunft Ohne Kohlekraft' (a future without coal power) in Berlin, Germany, Friday, July 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

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