Lutzerath is a ex-village up in the NW of Germany.....on the edge of a coal district. Officially, it's listed now as a hamlet, and census numbers say around 8 people still live in the village. RWE Ag, the company, around 20 years ago....went and procured the properties there, then set up a plan to open-coal-mine the region. I should add, at the end of the coal mining episode....the current plan is to have a huge lake area there.
Naturally, environmentalists have the idea that the mine should not expand, and that the hamlet should remain....as is.
For the past two years....climate activists have situated themselves in Lutzerath....with the objective that their presence will prevent the expansion.
2023, sadly, is the point where RWE would start the expansion.
Adding to the whole situation.....it's Green Party leadership that worked the 'deal' currently on the books for the use of Lutzerath and the after-action usage of the area (for the lake). So there's no real 'love' between the climate protest crowd, and the Green Party (shocking as it sounds).
The fact that the two-year period of using the private property for protests....without any real NRW (state) enforcement of protest laws? That has given the protest folks some 'courage'.
The rocks/stones thrown at police in the last weekend's episode? That simply pushes the situation to a higher level of violence. I should add that police from fourteen of the sixteen states...have been brought in for public safety support.
The argument by RWE that the coal there is needed for German energy? This goes back and forth. The climate folks have 'independent' analysts who say 'other' coal can be procured, and the use of Lutzerath as a coal 'pit' is not necessary. Behind their argument however.....if you continue to dig at the discussion, the 'other' coal has to come from somewhere beyond the German border. So you can make the argument that coal is going to come from somewhere else....'pissing-off' another climate activist group elsewhere.
Page one story? This is the odd part of the discussion. If you view public TV (ARD or ZDF)....both have made this a top three news item situation. A lot of face time is given to the climate protest folks. All of this coming in the midst of a energy crisis (at least everyone was told that back in October), and the coal-energy sector is significantly more important now that the nuke plants have been shutdown.
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So...if we buy some property in the area, it could, one day, be lakefront property. Hmmm.
Looking at their timetable, and how deep/long it would be....just anticipate five years to fill the place up with water (anticipate a drought each summer). I doubt if 'lake-status' is granted until after 2040.
I also anticipate some great 'evil' to come out of the man-made lake and environmentalists eventually say it has to be filled in with dirt.
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