Modern living standards — indoor lighting, affordable food, heat in the winter, an internet connection — require energy. And every energy source has its drawbacks. It’s easy to point out the downsides of a given energy source and call for it to be banned. But if we’re not careful about weighing costs against benefits, we’re liable to end up with something even worse.

This is becoming painfully evident in the case of Japan. In 2011, a nuclear power plant in northeast Japan’s Fukushima prefecture was damaged by a huge tsunami and had multiple meltdowns.

Japan Goes Into Reverse on Going Green! | Devamı>>>

The lukewarm response to the report of the commission set up to advise on plans for the elimination of coal use in Germany is understandable. The commission’s conclusions push the end of coal use out to 2038. The plan is cautious enough to have secured the support even of those members of the commission representing the coal industry and the main coal producing regions.

Criticism of the report has predictably come from groups such as Climate Alliance Germany and Friends of the Earth, which have said that the plan will not meet the Paris climate agreement targets, and that the phasing of the reduction through the 2020s needs to be defined in detail.

The End of Coal in Germany Could Come Much Quicker Than You Think | Devamı>>>