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The slower phaseout of coal is about employment and, to a lesser degree, regional "identity" issues far more than energy. The coal industry was at some point t
by IAmEveryone 5y ago
The slower phaseout of coal is about employment and, to a lesser degree, regional "identity" issues far more than energy.
The coal industry was at some point the country's largest. It's also older than all other in the industrial sector, since coal was the raw material fueling the industrial revolution.
As such, it became the raison d'etre for whole regions. The Ruhr area in west Germany grew from Iowa-level population density to New York State levels on coal. Unions, as a concept, got started in the coal mines. I recently saw a bunch of news broadcasts from the late 80s/early 90s and among 10 of them, eight or so featured labor issues in the sector. Until reunification, it was the most salient issue in politics.