nuclear-news

Anti Nuclear Protest Day in Berlin

Organizers say they expect 10,000 people to protest Merkel’s plans to extend the lifespan of Germany’s 17 nuclear power plants.

Merkel Chainsaw Protests Planned by Anti-Nuclear Demonstrators in Berlin.  Bloomberg, By Patrick Donahue – Sep 17, 2010 Anti-nuclear demonstrators wielding pictures of Chancellor Angela Merkel taking a chainsaw to wind- power turbines are set to march on Berlin tomorrow, as public anger at her coalition’s policies escalates.
Organizers say they expect 10,000 people to protest Merkel’s plans to extend the lifespan of Germany’s 17 nuclear power plants. A separate rally is planned in Stuttgart against a high-speed rail project backed by Merkel’s party. An Aug. 27 protest drew 50,000 people, the organizing group said……..

Claudia Roth, co-leader of the opposition Greens, promised a “new dimension” of protest against the chancellor’s policies in a Sept. 9 interview. The Greens, who co-authored the phase- out of nuclear power when in government with the Social Democrats, reached a record 22 percent in the Forsa poll and are leading opposition to Merkel’s energy policy and the Stuttgart 21 project…..

Election ‘Meltdown’

Demonstrations in Stuttgart have helped the state opposition and polls suggest the CDU might lose power in regional elections next March. Merkel’s party has governed the state, home to carmakers Daimler AG and Porsche SE, since 1952. In her speech, Merkel said the state election will be a referendum on the project and on her federal government.

“A change in government in Baden-Wuerttemberg would be a nuclear meltdown,” Uwe Andersen, a politics professor at the University of Bochum, said by phone. The loss of such a CDU heartland would trigger “a very strong internal party debate,” further turning off voters and exacerbating Merkel’s woes.

Merkel Chainsaw Protests Planned by Anti-Nuclear Demonstrators in Berlin – Bloomberg

September 17, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, reactors