Political opposition to Germany continuing with nukes

Greens vow to oppose U-turn on German nuclear phaseout

The Local : 28 Sep 09

Green groups vowed on Monday to hit the streets if Chancellor Angela Merkel’s victorious new coalition keeps its campaign promise to reverse Germany’s scheduled exit from nuclear power.parliamentary head of the Greens, Renate Künast, vowing that the party would oppose a nuclear U-turn both in parliament and with demonstrations.

Künast, whose party was in coalition with Schröder’s Social Democrats (SPD) when the nuclear exit was approved by parliament, told the Leipziger Volkszeitung on Monday that opposing any change was her “top priority.”Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the SPD’s chancellor candidate who wants to become the party’s new parliamentary head, said on Sunday night that he also would fight any reversal tooth and nail.

Mathias Edler, a spokesman for ecologist pressure group Greenpeace, said a “clear majority” of voters, and even most CDU voters, oppose extending Germany’s dependence on nuclear power.”If they do it, they will open a whole can of worms in German society again, it is clear,” Edler told AFP. “People will go out on the streets, there is no other option.”Fellow pressure groups Ausgestrahlt and BUND agreed: “If the new government intends to bow to the demands of the nuclear lobby, then they should expect stiff resistance.”

Greens vow to oppose U-turn on German nuclear phaseout – The Local

September 30, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, Germany, politics | antinuclear, nuclear, radiation, radioactive, uranium