SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - View Single Post

Skybird · 09-17-22, 06:18 AM

FOCUS writes:
----------------------------------

Well, dear Greens, that's it: you will be cursed, cursed, cursed

Just a moment ago, the Greens were considered the party that would provide the next chancellor. The refusal to do anything about the energy crisis undoes what trust the party leadership has built up.

Until a week ago, the energy crisis was a crisis of the two former people's parties, the CDU/CSU and the SPD. Even then, that wasn't entirely true, because it's the green energy transition that has contributed significantly to the calamities we find ourselves in. But at the end of the day, it's who's in power that counts, and it hasn't been the Greens over the past 16 years.

Energy crisis is now a Green crisis

Since the beginning of the week before last, the crisis has been a green crisis. Everything that may come this winter will now be attributed to them: the death of companies that will follow the doubling of electricity prices; the blackouts when the grids collapse because there are no longer enough reliable power plants.

I thought the Greens were smart, at least strategically. I trusted them to be the next chancellor. For a short time, it looked as if the project of conquering the social center might work.

The refusal to do everything necessary to avert the meltdown is therefore a mistake whose impact cannot be overestimated. It is likely to destroy all the trust that the party has built up in recent months.

We are at the beginning of the storm. You can see the weather glow. There is not a day when you don't read in the newspapers about companies that have no idea how they are going to shoulder the electricity bills. The worst hit are companies that wanted to do everything right and relied on a modern gas turbine. Those who can still burn oil or coal now at least have an alternative.

Anger at Minister Habeck

It also hits industries that you don't immediately think of. I ran into a doctor at a garden party on Saturday who joined a radiology practice in Munich three years ago. His billing office wrote to him last week, telling him to be prepared for an additional payment of 1.2 million euros in electricity costs. Large radiological units are power guzzlers that cannot simply be turned off overnight. The magnets that are needed for image acquisition cannot tolerate that.

"Let's see how long we can hold out," the radiologist said. I found him surprisingly composed. I wouldn't be able to sleep again if I were promised an additional payment of 1.2 million euros. But when we got to talking about the Minister of Economics' decision to take the nuclear power plants off the grid, the equanimity was gone. You could see how incomprehension and anger gained the upper hand in the man.

It is not only my radiologist who wonders why we are not doing everything we can to minimize the damage to the country. It has now been two weeks since Robert Habeck presented his plan to transfer German nuclear power to the silent reserve.

To this day, no one knows how this is supposed to work. A nuclear power plant is like my radiologist friend's computer tomograph: Some plants don't have an on/off switch. Habeck has answered his critics by saying that all those who thought his plan wouldn't work hadn't understood him. Unfortunately, he did not say what exactly he had in mind.

Greens have found short explanations

There are some unbreakable laws in politics. A scandal that takes more than one sentence to explain is not a scandal. That's why Annalena Baerbock's cheating book was a big issue in the election campaign and not Olaf Scholz's Cum-Ex past, although the latter is much more significant than the former. In the same way, an explanation that takes me more than a minute is useless as an explanation.

No one has known this better than the Greens. They invented chlorinated chickens and genetically modified corn to protect Germany from foreign goods. When their opponents started to explain the advantages of trade agreements with faraway countries, they just laughed.

And now they are looking for salvation in merit order, i.e. the order of power plants in pricing? Good luck. I made an attempt over the weekend to explain how the price is calculated in the electricity market.

I could see the look on my interlocutor's face go nowhere. At Greenpeace, they already knew why they always put the dolphin in the display window and never the undersea giant spider, which would be just as deserving of staying alive.

Is the nuclear power plant a symbol? Of course it is. Nuclear energy now accounts for only six percent of electricity generation. But that's how it is in times of war: Sometimes it's also about symbols. That's all the more true when people are up to their necks in water.

When you hold the letter with the new installment payment in your hands, it's good to know that the government is doing everything in its power to get the situation under control. And not saying, "Sorry, it's bad that you now have to pay five times as much. We also have 300 euros for you. But as far as power generation is concerned, unfortunately we have to make allowances for the green soul."

Green energy transition makes things much worse

With the energy transition, it's like with socialism. It's never the idea that's bad, always just the execution. Of course, the goal of phasing out coal after nuclear is held fast. Stupidly, it is precisely this fixation on renewables that has led us into dependence on Russian gas.

The Greens have always warned against Putin, which advantageously distinguishes them from other parties. However, the Green energy transition then made things much worse, because after coal and nuclear power were phased out, gas was the only reliable energy source left.

The coalition agreement announced the construction of more gas-fired power plants. "Natural gas is indispensable for a transitional period," it says in a rare bow to reality. It would be interesting to know whether the coalition intends to stick to this or whether it is counting on other energy sources appearing out of nowhere.

Perhaps they will simply forgo the so-called baseload, energy sources that are independent of the vagaries of the weather. That would fit in with a world in which will and imagination count and not the disdainful laws of physics.

You think this is a joke? I remember a tweet in which the German Environment Ministry declared before the gas crisis: "Base load will no longer exist in the classical sense." Instead of baseload, they were betting on a system of renewables, storage and smart grids. In the environment ministry, people have always been further ahead than in normal politics. Now only reality has to follow.

Even among Green voters, there is a change of mood

At the beginning of the week, the opinion research institute Forsa asked Germans what they think about the lifespan of nuclear power plants. 67 percent are in favor of the three reactors still in operation being used to generate electricity until 2024.

Even among Green voters, there is a shift in sentiment. At 41 percent, the proportion of those in favor of continued operation is no longer so far behind the proportion in favor of shutdown or reserve.

If I were a Green hater, I would want the party leadership to stick to its decision to phase out for as long as possible. At the latest, when the lights go out in January during the doldrums because the sun and wind can't keep up with power consumption, their ambitions for higher things will be over for the time being.

When the Tesla owner can no longer get her car out of the spot because the charging station is on strike, then the Green Party will be back where it came from: no longer a lifestyle choice for the upper middle class, but an offer to the truly convinced, who will also let their conviction cost them something. That's still enough for the Bundestag. But it will be difficult to get into the chancellor's office.

------------------------

Two bakers in my neighbourhood have shut down last week. The one for a limited time, he hopes, the other forever.

It has begun.

09-17-22, 06:18 AM	#1639
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,767 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	FOCUS writes: ---------------------------------- Well, dear Greens, that's it: you will be cursed, cursed, cursed Just a moment ago, the Greens were considered the party that would provide the next chancellor. The refusal to do anything about the energy crisis undoes what trust the party leadership has built up. Until a week ago, the energy crisis was a crisis of the two former people's parties, the CDU/CSU and the SPD. Even then, that wasn't entirely true, because it's the green energy transition that has contributed significantly to the calamities we find ourselves in. But at the end of the day, it's who's in power that counts, and it hasn't been the Greens over the past 16 years. Energy crisis is now a Green crisis Since the beginning of the week before last, the crisis has been a green crisis. Everything that may come this winter will now be attributed to them: the death of companies that will follow the doubling of electricity prices; the blackouts when the grids collapse because there are no longer enough reliable power plants. I thought the Greens were smart, at least strategically. I trusted them to be the next chancellor. For a short time, it looked as if the project of conquering the social center might work. The refusal to do everything necessary to avert the meltdown is therefore a mistake whose impact cannot be overestimated. It is likely to destroy all the trust that the party has built up in recent months. We are at the beginning of the storm. You can see the weather glow. There is not a day when you don't read in the newspapers about companies that have no idea how they are going to shoulder the electricity bills. The worst hit are companies that wanted to do everything right and relied on a modern gas turbine. Those who can still burn oil or coal now at least have an alternative. Anger at Minister Habeck It also hits industries that you don't immediately think of. I ran into a doctor at a garden party on Saturday who joined a radiology practice in Munich three years ago. His billing office wrote to him last week, telling him to be prepared for an additional payment of 1.2 million euros in electricity costs. Large radiological units are power guzzlers that cannot simply be turned off overnight. The magnets that are needed for image acquisition cannot tolerate that. "Let's see how long we can hold out," the radiologist said. I found him surprisingly composed. I wouldn't be able to sleep again if I were promised an additional payment of 1.2 million euros. But when we got to talking about the Minister of Economics' decision to take the nuclear power plants off the grid, the equanimity was gone. You could see how incomprehension and anger gained the upper hand in the man. It is not only my radiologist who wonders why we are not doing everything we can to minimize the damage to the country. It has now been two weeks since Robert Habeck presented his plan to transfer German nuclear power to the silent reserve. To this day, no one knows how this is supposed to work. A nuclear power plant is like my radiologist friend's computer tomograph: Some plants don't have an on/off switch. Habeck has answered his critics by saying that all those who thought his plan wouldn't work hadn't understood him. Unfortunately, he did not say what exactly he had in mind. Greens have found short explanations There are some unbreakable laws in politics. A scandal that takes more than one sentence to explain is not a scandal. That's why Annalena Baerbock's cheating book was a big issue in the election campaign and not Olaf Scholz's Cum-Ex past, although the latter is much more significant than the former. In the same way, an explanation that takes me more than a minute is useless as an explanation. No one has known this better than the Greens. They invented chlorinated chickens and genetically modified corn to protect Germany from foreign goods. When their opponents started to explain the advantages of trade agreements with faraway countries, they just laughed. And now they are looking for salvation in merit order, i.e. the order of power plants in pricing? Good luck. I made an attempt over the weekend to explain how the price is calculated in the electricity market. I could see the look on my interlocutor's face go nowhere. At Greenpeace, they already knew why they always put the dolphin in the display window and never the undersea giant spider, which would be just as deserving of staying alive. Is the nuclear power plant a symbol? Of course it is. Nuclear energy now accounts for only six percent of electricity generation. But that's how it is in times of war: Sometimes it's also about symbols. That's all the more true when people are up to their necks in water. When you hold the letter with the new installment payment in your hands, it's good to know that the government is doing everything in its power to get the situation under control. And not saying, "Sorry, it's bad that you now have to pay five times as much. We also have 300 euros for you. But as far as power generation is concerned, unfortunately we have to make allowances for the green soul." Green energy transition makes things much worse With the energy transition, it's like with socialism. It's never the idea that's bad, always just the execution. Of course, the goal of phasing out coal after nuclear is held fast. Stupidly, it is precisely this fixation on renewables that has led us into dependence on Russian gas. The Greens have always warned against Putin, which advantageously distinguishes them from other parties. However, the Green energy transition then made things much worse, because after coal and nuclear power were phased out, gas was the only reliable energy source left. The coalition agreement announced the construction of more gas-fired power plants. "Natural gas is indispensable for a transitional period," it says in a rare bow to reality. It would be interesting to know whether the coalition intends to stick to this or whether it is counting on other energy sources appearing out of nowhere. Perhaps they will simply forgo the so-called baseload, energy sources that are independent of the vagaries of the weather. That would fit in with a world in which will and imagination count and not the disdainful laws of physics. You think this is a joke? I remember a tweet in which the German Environment Ministry declared before the gas crisis: "Base load will no longer exist in the classical sense." Instead of baseload, they were betting on a system of renewables, storage and smart grids. In the environment ministry, people have always been further ahead than in normal politics. Now only reality has to follow. Even among Green voters, there is a change of mood At the beginning of the week, the opinion research institute Forsa asked Germans what they think about the lifespan of nuclear power plants. 67 percent are in favor of the three reactors still in operation being used to generate electricity until 2024. Even among Green voters, there is a shift in sentiment. At 41 percent, the proportion of those in favor of continued operation is no longer so far behind the proportion in favor of shutdown or reserve. If I were a Green hater, I would want the party leadership to stick to its decision to phase out for as long as possible. At the latest, when the lights go out in January during the doldrums because the sun and wind can't keep up with power consumption, their ambitions for higher things will be over for the time being. When the Tesla owner can no longer get her car out of the spot because the charging station is on strike, then the Green Party will be back where it came from: no longer a lifestyle choice for the upper middle class, but an offer to the truly convinced, who will also let their conviction cost them something. That's still enough for the Bundestag. But it will be difficult to get into the chancellor's office. ------------------------ Two bakers in my neighbourhood have shut down last week. The one for a limited time, he hopes, the other forever. It has begun. __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.