> In 2001 socdem-green coalition agreed on an "Atomaustieg"
After two decades of discussion and political struggle.
> Merkel's stance changed
Merkel knew already that there was not enough support for nuclear. The Fukushima event caused the collapse of the nuclear support in her own party and in the industry.
> Saying that Germany's handling of the energy sector is purely rational, simply doesn't hold up to the political realities, which can be quite messy.
No human decisions are 'rational'. Energy politics is never rational. Every decision in energy politics is guided by current level of knowledge, political influence, influence by industry (their are billions of dollars involved), various preferences, etc.
The German population was never asked if they wanted a monopolistic and centralized electricity system - the one which emerged after WWII. Some politicians even thought that nuclear technology was a step into military power. This was for example the plan of Franz Josef Strauss, a very influential politician at that time.
in reference to 2001 this sounds about right, sorry just was confused which time span those 2 decades refer to.
propably even 2 1/2 decades or more, the big demostrations started about 78/79.
After two decades of discussion and political struggle.
> Merkel's stance changed
Merkel knew already that there was not enough support for nuclear. The Fukushima event caused the collapse of the nuclear support in her own party and in the industry.
> Saying that Germany's handling of the energy sector is purely rational, simply doesn't hold up to the political realities, which can be quite messy.
No human decisions are 'rational'. Energy politics is never rational. Every decision in energy politics is guided by current level of knowledge, political influence, influence by industry (their are billions of dollars involved), various preferences, etc.
The German population was never asked if they wanted a monopolistic and centralized electricity system - the one which emerged after WWII. Some politicians even thought that nuclear technology was a step into military power. This was for example the plan of Franz Josef Strauss, a very influential politician at that time.