The next German Chancellor will be a Green

[BlasterBates]

Reunification was in 1990, unemployment had gone up and was coming back down again.

We just need to pray to God the Eco-Loons and their deluded supporters don't get their way, otherwise everyone will be crawling around in converted milk-floats, and taking 3 days to travel between major cities.

You'd think they'd at least support a fast new rail link wouldn't you.

[Mich the Tester]

Reunification was in 1990, unemployment had gone up and was coming back down again.

We just need to pray to God the Eco-Loons and their deluded supporters don't get their way, otherwise everyone will be crawling around in converted milk-floats, and taking 3 days to travel between major cities.

You'd think they'd at least support a fast new rail link wouldn't you.

Your rhetoric mirrors the eco-loons themselves; cause panic by saying the world/economy/climate/industry is going to collapse and then say your way is the only way to avoid armageddon.

Rail links are great, but not when the business case is as flimsy as this one.

[doodab]

Reunification was in 1990, unemployment had gone up and was coming back down again

German unemployment started to rise shortly after reunification in 1990. In fact it went up more or less steadily until 1997, which is what ultimately led to the end of the Köhl government.

[BlasterBates]

Your rhetoric mirrors the eco-loons themselves; cause panic by saying the world/economy/climate/industry is going to collapse and then say your way is the only way to avoid armageddon.

Rail links are great, but not when the business case is as flimsy as this one.

So you think switching off all atomic powerstations in a few years makes sense?

Do you seriously think they'll be able to build massive wind generation farms and the North-Sea and make them work in 10 years?

No I think lunacy is a very apt description. It won't happen anyway because it is so ridculous, but in the meantime they'll drive a lot of businesses out.

Shame really because Germany was getting it's act together.

[Mich the Tester]

So you think switching off all atomic powerstations in a few years makes sense?

Do you seriously think they'll be able to build massive wind generation farms and the North-Sea and make them work in 10 years?

No I think lunacy is a very apt description. It won't happen anyway because it is so ridculous, but in the meantime they'll drive a lot of businesses out.

Of course it won't happen that quickly, but surely it's not a bad thing to stimulate production of wind turbines, given that half the world's governments have gone off the idea of nuclear power, rightly or wrongly, since the Fukushima accident. Looks like there's a lot of money to be made in that market, and I imagine that the big German engineering conglomerates like bosch, Siemens et al are rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of orders coming in for tens of thousands of wind turbines.

[BlasterBates]

Of course it won't happen that quickly,

Of course it will happen that quickly. That's was the law they passed on 2002. All atomic power stations to be closed by 2020. Of course no-one took it too seriously because everyone knew a CDU ggovernment would repeal it, but now it's a reality, the CDU are too weak, and the Greens are high in the polls, and ther'll be no restraint from a "big" SPD. There is absolutely no way a Green government would not do anything other than shut them all down by 2020, even the CDU are getting arm twisted into doing it, and yes the lights may well go out as the head of RWE pointed out last week.

[Mich the Tester]

Of course it will happen that quickly. That's was the law they passed on 2002. All atomic power stations to be closed by 2020. Of course no-one took it too seriously because everyone knew a CDU ggovernment would repeal it, but now it's a reality, the CDU are too weak, and the Greens are high in the polls, and ther'll be no restraint from a "big" SPD. There is absolutely no way a Green government would not do anything other than shut them all down by 2020, even the CDU are getting arm twisted into doing it, and yes the lights may well go out as the head of RWE pointed out last week.

In other words, the biggest nuclear power producer in Germany, who has done little to invest in renewables, says 'please don't go down the renewable route'. It sounds a bit like a potato farmer telling people pasta and rice will kill them.

[BlasterBates]

In other words, the biggest nuclear power producer in Germany, who has done little to invest in renewables, says 'please don't go down the renewable route'. It sounds a bit like a potato farmer telling people pasta and rice will kill them.

RWE basically generates and runs the Power network in Bavaria and some other states. They actually have run all the power stations and provide electricity from all sources including renewables.

Of course we don't need big businesses with huge amounts of capital of international investors to build and maintain a modern infrastructure do we, we can completely ignore them.

I wonder where I've heard that before. I'll give you a clue, check out the Labour manifesto in 1982, and you'll find all that stuff there.

[Mich the Tester]

Of course we don't need big businesses with huge amounts of capital of international investors to build and maintain a modern infrastructure do we, we can completely ignore them.

I wonder where I've heard that before. I'll give you a clue, check out the Labour manifesto in 1982, and you'll find all that stuff there.

Again, you're going for an excluded middle argument just as the global warming panic greenies do. Nobody says RWE should be ignored, but their views should be seen in context, as should those of greenies and others.

[BlasterBates]

Again, you're going for an excluded middle argument just as the global warming panic greenies do. Nobody says RWE should be ignored, but their views should be seen in context, as should those of greenies and others.

The Green manifesto isn't a middle argument, it's pretty extreme actually.