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Letter from Europe: Climate change – German energy companies balk at climate-change agenda

070716_basf.jpgIf there is one issue Angela Merkel has made her own, it is climate change. Since taking office in late 2005, the German chancellor, a former scientist, has pursued the issue with such single-mindedness that even President George W. Bush agreed at last month’s Group of 8 summit meeting to take climate change more seriously. But on the domestic front, Merkel’s attempt at bringing Germany’s gas and electricity companies on board has proved much more difficult. She is learning the hard way just how powerful these companies are in German politics. During a meeting with the energy chiefs in the Chancellery this month, Merkel said she wanted their support for reducing greenhouse gases by 40 percent by 2020, increasing energy efficiency by an annual three percent and expanding renewable energy. Industry balked at the idea. Jà¼rgen Hambrecht, chief executive of BASF, the chemicals conglomerate, accused Merkel of “de-industrializing” Germany. Merkel, for the moment, was forced to back down. Image source: Tobias Schwarz /Reuters / iht.com. > Continue.

News selected by Covalence | Country: Global | Company: BASF, E.ON, RWE, EnBW, Vattenfall | Source: International Herald Tribune

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