GERMANY The Enquete Commission of the German parliament (Bundestag) for Sustainable Energy Supply under the Conditions of Globalisation and Liberalisation has completed and presented to the German parliament its 1300 page report after two years of deliberations.
The main points of the report are that the present German energy supply system is not sustainable as it neglects environmental costs, consumes scarce resources and does not sufficiently take into account risks. The red/green majority of the members of the Enquete commission stated in the report that a reduction of greenhouse gases by 80% by 2050 would be possible in spite of a nuclear phaseout by increased use of renewable energy resources and increased energy conservation, if enforced by a rising ecology tax.
The Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) coalition and Free Democratic Party (FDP) members issued a minority statement demanding the continued use of nuclear energy and the support of nuclear research to keep the option for it open. Also, according to Franz Obermeier (CSU), the red/green proposals do not consider the economics of energy production.
The Enquete commission is chaired by Kurt-Dieter Grill (CDU), the environmental speaker of the CDU/CSU parliamentary faction.
