Comment by astebbin | Hacker News Reader

Comment by astebbin | Hacker News Reader

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I've found Vice News to be great for firsthand reports, but lacking on background material.

For example, they did a segment [0] on brown coal strip-mining in Germany. The reporter examined the stark human and environmental toll of the mining, but failed to address why such a dirty form of energy was in demand in the first place. I had to do my own research to find out.

What I found, in part because I knew some of the background already and was confused by the Vice report, was that Germans chose to abandon nuclear power - a cleaner, safer form of energy - in the wake of the Fukushima disaster [1]. This boosted their dependence on coal, and was a direct cause of the increase in strip mining portrayed in the Vice report. The devastation caused by mining to the landscape and nearby villages took on a different meaning for me with this information.

Overall, I enjoy and appreciate the out-there, unfiltered style of journalism that Vice sells. However, I'd encourage you to do your own research and not rely on their reporting to capture the bigger picture.

[0] https://youtu.be/xCrVYd3aKcA [1] https://www.the-american-interest.com/2016/10/26/green-germa...

FWIW in Germany there has been a strong anti-nuclear sentiment in the public, at least since the reunification. The West German Greens merged with an alliance of progressive opposition groups from East Germany, resulting in the modern Greens, "Bündnis 90/Die Grünen".

The Greens are generally socially progressive (though not by any means socialist) but their core messages are similar to those of NGOs like Greenpeace. By virtue of being represented in numerous coalition governments over the years, on communal, federal and national levels, there has been a very consistent and vocal opposition to nuclear power in German politics.

Fukushima was ultimately the straw that broke the camel's back, forcing Angela Merkel (who's actually part of the conservative party, CDU) to officially disavow nuclear power, even though it meant violating some contracts.

The origin of the underlying anti-nuclear sentiment likely lies in the peace movements of the 60s/70s because there is a still a strong connection between nuclear power and nuclear weapons in most people's minds and being caught between the US and the Soviet Union there was a lot of awareness how horrible nuclear weapons actually are.

Political processes in determining long-term storage sites for nuclear waste regularly make tabloid headlines, as do the protests around the transport. Chernobyl was likely what made nuclear power a mainstream concern, the constant protests, reporting and debates eroded the support further, Fukushima just was the final nail in the coffin.

Germans as a group tend to be rather risk-averse. The harm of coal power is imminent and obvious but predictable. The harm of nuclear power is delayed and much less predictable but potentially much more disastrous -- it's essentially a gamble (although I'd argue that the odds are pretty darn good and the risks are greatly exaggerated).

That said, Germans ultimately want green energy, not coal power. Coal is just seen as the necessary evil while the gap is being bridged.

I have bad news for Germans then. A majority of France's Nuclear Power Plants are right on the border, km away from the old German ones.

Yeah, and Germans are displeased with that. French and Belgian nuclear power plants also make headlines in Germany every now and then or at least get a mention in the news.

Personally I would rather see coal and gas power plants be shut down ASAP and new nuclear power plants to be built to bridge the gap but c'est la vie.

Great comment about how to be an intelligent consumer. I remember watching that segment and definitely missed the context you described. I'll definitely be more vigilant of that in the future.

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