There are calls for a judicial investigation into German vice chancellor and green czar Robert Habeck following revelations in the press of a covert network of ecologist technocrats that successfully massaged the figures prior to Berlin’s controversial nuclear shutdown last year, including lying about plant safety.
According to Cicero journalist Clemens Traub, “critical assessments by experts were clearly ignored and falsified in the Federal Ministry of Economics led by Robert Habeck.”
German Greens achieved a long-term ideological objective with the closure of the country’s three remaining nuclear power plants spearheaded by Habeck and his ruling Green Party. Documents released courtesy of Berlin’s Administrative Court to Cicero magazine describe the “dirty games” of green activists at the heart of the German state aiming to fastrack nuclear energy’s demise, most notably by exaggerating safety fears—contrary to scientific expertise.
Featuring concerted attempts to torpedo nuclear energy—with officials even lying overtly about the actual costs of nuclear power—the secretive campaign occurred despite soaring energy prices in the aftermath of sanctions on Russian energy imports.
Calls are growing for an investigation, even within Berlin’s governing ‘Ampelkoalition’ coalition, specifically among disaffected market liberals in the FDP party.
“When the lobby takes over, ideology becomes a scandal,” proclaimed FDP Bundestag member Katja Adler, with Habeck and the German Greens already under heavy fire for their handling of the broader energy crisis.
In response to the allegations, Habeck has outsourced blame to his already disgraced underlying Patrick Graichen, who resigned in May of last year due to cronyism allegations. Habeck has so far denied ignoring evidence from scientists and downplaying the economic risk of the shutdown, but this has been contradicted by emerging information from government sources.
Already facing record low polling numbers, the German Green Party and Habeck in particular have been plagued by previous nepotism scandals involving the vice chancellor’s family being given government contracts.
Energy experts complain about new attempts to tear up Germany’s natural gas grid to placate green ideologues, while recent farmer protests were triggered by plans to cut diesel subsidies.
There is now growing industry consensus that Germany may need to tap into its coal reserves to make up for the energy shortfall with the country itself, with de-industrialisation impacting the country’s formerly strong manufacturing sector. In contrast, the decision to terminate nuclear energy in Germany last year turned out to be too extreme for even Greta Thunberg!
Hubristic efforts to kill nuclear energy permanently in the aftermath of Japan’s Fukushima disaster would make Germany’s energy predicament worse, especially considering the growing costs of the green energy transition. The new scandal is the capstone of years of worsening foreign policy and energy decisions in what, on paper, is still Europe’s leading economy.
A likely electoral beneficiary will be the populist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), riding high in the polls thanks to years of government mishaps.
