Facing severe energy shortages this coming winter, Germany is already preparing stringent energy conservation measures, in an effort to build stockpiles of natural gas ahead of time. Buildings will not be heated above 66°F this winter and citizens are being told to cut energy consumption by a draconian 20%.
Needless to say, this is not expected to go over well, and German government is reported to be preparing for mass protests and civil unrest.
Kramer said that officials were bracing for protests over "gas shortages, energy problems, supply difficulties, possible recession, unemployment, but also the growing poverty right up to the middle class," adding that "extremists" which include "lateral thinkers" who rallied against pandemic lockdowns, and 'right-wing activists' who have been stirring the post over social media, could be at the heart of them.
The perversity of the situation is that it is entirely a self-inflicted wound. Having for years neglected its own energy infrastructure, Germany allowed itself to become dependent on Russian natural gas exports, and then waded into the Russo-Ukrainian War unprepared. This shortage is entirely driven by politics.
Can the German government survive a self-inflicted winter of discontent?
The UK has the advantage of having been down this road before.
It was the labor strikes in the 70s during the infamous "Winter of Discontent" that set the stage for Margaret Thatcher's historic stay at 10 Downing Street.
As best I can recollect Germany has never had a government collapse during the postwar era.
This is a classic example of modern woke liberals who think they are the only ones that are allowed to punch in a fight. When someone or some country does punch back, they whine about how unfair things are. How stupid were the European leaders to sanction the country that provides a lot of their energy? They thought they were so clever when they carved out an exemption for Russian oil and gas in their numerous sanction regimes. Russia fought back by finding their own clever ways to slowly turn the screws on the flow of energy to Europe, while directing their natural resources to other friendly countries (which is most of the world). This was such as easy thing to see coming. Now the chickens are coming home to roost in liberal Europe.
What does it tell you about government if it has to prepare for mass demonstrations and unrest when it implements new policies? Do you think those policies are designed to help their citizens?
"Germany allowed itself to become dependent on Russian natural gas exports"
That has been the case for a very long time. In the mid 1960s, my uncle and aunt moved into a newly built quadplex house. It had oil heat, and the basement had a dedicated room full of a whole bunch of 1000 liter oil tanks -- enough oil to last an entire year, so that it could be bought in the off-season when it was less expensive. When I visited them in the mid 1980s I noticed the the tanks were gone and I asked them what was up with that. "Oh, we heat with Russian gas now." Note that this was before the fall of the Soviet Union.
Buying Russian natural gas when its cheap is one thing.
Dismantling the alternative energy infrastructures so that Russian natural gas is the ONLY viable energy source in the short term is quite another.
Germany has been steadily closing coal-fired power-generation plants to meet their "green energy" commitments, and began closing their nuclear power plants after Fukushima, thinking that "renewable" energy would somehow fill the void, and it hasn't--has not even come close.
"Renewable energy" AKA wind and solar will never suffice. When I last flew into Germany, it was a very clear morning and the plane I was on did a slow, zig-zag descent into FRA. I was somewhat aghast just how littered the German landscape had become with big ugly wind turbines. It's not as noticeable from the ground as it is from a few thousand feet in the air.
There is really only one practical solution to being "carbon neutral" while maintaining a first-world living standard and that's nuclear power.
Renewable energy has always been a boondoggle for one simple reason: it does not provide the one thing the modern energy grid demands of a sustainable fuel source, which is energy storage.
You put a cubic meter of natural gas in a salt dome in the ground and, one year later, you still have all the BTUs as when the gas was first pumped in.
Put a gallon of fuel oil in a barrel and a year later you still have the BTUs, just waiting on a match to convert them.
Ditto coal, and even ditto nuclear (although the process of radioactive decay complicates the example a bit).
You can't put a gust of wind in a bottle, and you can't put the sunlight in a bag.
Without energy storage, renewables are never going to be a substitute for fossil fuels and nuclear power.
The error in the thinking is that voters will draw the same logical conclusions as you do. When lockdowns came down, Germans voted for a party that favoured lockdowns even more. So, don't expect them to vote now for politicians that criticize this self-inflicted wound. Energy prices have been going up for years, up to 300% - and Germans rated this issue continuously not in their top 5. I don't think this will change things. By the time there are new elections, this will not be an issue anymore.
They may protest, but more that government should 'do' something. Like subsidies or lower energy taxes. Or force someone else to use less.
Considering it's the German government reportedly preparing for civil unrest, it's a question of the German people drawing the same conclusions as the German government.
For whatever reason, the German government appears to be anticipating significant and even destabilizing social unrest in the country over the energy crisis.
Not disagreeing, but my point is more that the unrest will be more about "the government must fix it for me", than the logical conclusion that the government policies they eagerly voted for caused it.
In that sense I can imagine Germany following an approach like Australia did with covid: the government will come down hard against protestors and the citizens will reward them in the next election by voting for politicians that want even more of such disastrous policies.
A distinct possibility, although the fears of unrest may be a tacit acknowledgment that the government is unable to "fix" this.
Ultimately, even Australia changed course on COVID. Germany can't just change course on this energy shortage. Rebuilding their energy infrastructures is will take years--time the German economy does not have.
The initial protests may be demands for a quick government fix. The danger arises when no quick fix is forthcoming and the citizens' hopes are dashed by the same authoritarian government in which they've entrusted all their hopes.
As a peaceful anarchist who hasn't voted in decades, perhaps I can see a forrest.
If I were a politician, I would try to leave the impression with voters that I am trying to increase supply, rather than "beat" on voters to reduce their demand.
And can they buy Nuclear generated electricity from France ? France is having mega problems with their nuke plants and reducing output, e.g. no extra energy for exports.
Saw a similar piece about the UK in UnHerd today. What a surprise! 🤡
The UK has the advantage of having been down this road before.
It was the labor strikes in the 70s during the infamous "Winter of Discontent" that set the stage for Margaret Thatcher's historic stay at 10 Downing Street.
As best I can recollect Germany has never had a government collapse during the postwar era.
This is a classic example of modern woke liberals who think they are the only ones that are allowed to punch in a fight. When someone or some country does punch back, they whine about how unfair things are. How stupid were the European leaders to sanction the country that provides a lot of their energy? They thought they were so clever when they carved out an exemption for Russian oil and gas in their numerous sanction regimes. Russia fought back by finding their own clever ways to slowly turn the screws on the flow of energy to Europe, while directing their natural resources to other friendly countries (which is most of the world). This was such as easy thing to see coming. Now the chickens are coming home to roost in liberal Europe.
“Can the German government survive a self-inflicted winter of discontent?”
Let’s hope not. First world Sri Lanka.
What does it tell you about government if it has to prepare for mass demonstrations and unrest when it implements new policies? Do you think those policies are designed to help their citizens?
At a minimum, it says that government believes the citizens may not appreciate how the policies supposed to benefit them.
Of course, if the citizens don't see the benefit, that's pretty much tantamount to there being no benefit to be seen.
"Germany allowed itself to become dependent on Russian natural gas exports"
That has been the case for a very long time. In the mid 1960s, my uncle and aunt moved into a newly built quadplex house. It had oil heat, and the basement had a dedicated room full of a whole bunch of 1000 liter oil tanks -- enough oil to last an entire year, so that it could be bought in the off-season when it was less expensive. When I visited them in the mid 1980s I noticed the the tanks were gone and I asked them what was up with that. "Oh, we heat with Russian gas now." Note that this was before the fall of the Soviet Union.
Buying Russian natural gas when its cheap is one thing.
Dismantling the alternative energy infrastructures so that Russian natural gas is the ONLY viable energy source in the short term is quite another.
Germany has been steadily closing coal-fired power-generation plants to meet their "green energy" commitments, and began closing their nuclear power plants after Fukushima, thinking that "renewable" energy would somehow fill the void, and it hasn't--has not even come close.
https://archive.ph/2OgH4
"Renewable energy" AKA wind and solar will never suffice. When I last flew into Germany, it was a very clear morning and the plane I was on did a slow, zig-zag descent into FRA. I was somewhat aghast just how littered the German landscape had become with big ugly wind turbines. It's not as noticeable from the ground as it is from a few thousand feet in the air.
There is really only one practical solution to being "carbon neutral" while maintaining a first-world living standard and that's nuclear power.
I agree.
Renewable energy has always been a boondoggle for one simple reason: it does not provide the one thing the modern energy grid demands of a sustainable fuel source, which is energy storage.
You put a cubic meter of natural gas in a salt dome in the ground and, one year later, you still have all the BTUs as when the gas was first pumped in.
Put a gallon of fuel oil in a barrel and a year later you still have the BTUs, just waiting on a match to convert them.
Ditto coal, and even ditto nuclear (although the process of radioactive decay complicates the example a bit).
You can't put a gust of wind in a bottle, and you can't put the sunlight in a bag.
Without energy storage, renewables are never going to be a substitute for fossil fuels and nuclear power.
The error in the thinking is that voters will draw the same logical conclusions as you do. When lockdowns came down, Germans voted for a party that favoured lockdowns even more. So, don't expect them to vote now for politicians that criticize this self-inflicted wound. Energy prices have been going up for years, up to 300% - and Germans rated this issue continuously not in their top 5. I don't think this will change things. By the time there are new elections, this will not be an issue anymore.
They may protest, but more that government should 'do' something. Like subsidies or lower energy taxes. Or force someone else to use less.
Considering it's the German government reportedly preparing for civil unrest, it's a question of the German people drawing the same conclusions as the German government.
For whatever reason, the German government appears to be anticipating significant and even destabilizing social unrest in the country over the energy crisis.
For whatever reason. Germany like all EU nations are puppets of the US-UK-EU-NATO and their economies are purposely being destroyed.
Not disagreeing, but my point is more that the unrest will be more about "the government must fix it for me", than the logical conclusion that the government policies they eagerly voted for caused it.
In that sense I can imagine Germany following an approach like Australia did with covid: the government will come down hard against protestors and the citizens will reward them in the next election by voting for politicians that want even more of such disastrous policies.
A distinct possibility, although the fears of unrest may be a tacit acknowledgment that the government is unable to "fix" this.
Ultimately, even Australia changed course on COVID. Germany can't just change course on this energy shortage. Rebuilding their energy infrastructures is will take years--time the German economy does not have.
The initial protests may be demands for a quick government fix. The danger arises when no quick fix is forthcoming and the citizens' hopes are dashed by the same authoritarian government in which they've entrusted all their hopes.
Politicians can't see the forrest for the trees.
As a peaceful anarchist who hasn't voted in decades, perhaps I can see a forrest.
If I were a politician, I would try to leave the impression with voters that I am trying to increase supply, rather than "beat" on voters to reduce their demand.
....hopefully this happens to all WEF infiltrated countries..... maybe this is good....
And can they buy Nuclear generated electricity from France ? France is having mega problems with their nuke plants and reducing output, e.g. no extra energy for exports.