>Germany is absolutely a great example, ... Coal mining is dangerous/destructive, burning coal is poisoning the oceans and has killed many, many people. For ex

>Germany is absolutely a great example, ... Coal mining is dangerous/destructive, burning coal is poisoning the oceans and has killed many, many people. For example, an estimate is that over 20,000 deaths are caused per year due to burning coal in Europe. I am not sure how many of these deaths Germany is exporting every year to countries downwind, but it isn't zero: https://news.mongabay.com/2013/06/burning-coal-responsible-for-over-20000-deaths-a-year-in-europe/ https://news.mongabay.com/2013/06/burning-coal-responsible-f... A NASA estimate is that the use of nuclear power has saved approximately 1.8 million lives in the years 1971-2009: https://climate.nasa.gov/news/903/coal-and-gas-are-far-more-harmful-than-nuclear-power/ https://climate.nasa.gov/news/903/coal-and-gas-are-far-more-... Of course the above is just the immediate damage from coal - future generations will have to live with the effects of all that CO2 being added to the atmosphere from Germany burning lignite and hard coal to produce ~130 TWh of power. How many deaths will come from that? (Burning natural gas produces less CO2 than burning coal, but the production and distribution of natural gas leads to enough losses to the atmosphere, it is estimated the climate impact might be similar to coal.) Choosing to eliminate nuclear power when you are still burning fossil fuels is truly a horrible decision.