They refuse to give up and defend the doomed village from rooftops and treetop huts. Sasha admits that she fears the next few days.
ENERGY VS CLIMATE: She does not accept the arguments that the electricity crisis means that it is necessary to use coal in Germany. Photo: Santiago Vergara/TV2 S.
– The climate crisis is happening now. That’s why we are ready to take risks, says Sasha Lorenz (25) from the top of a tree.
Police with shields, clubs and helmets. Masked protesters, journalists from several countries, mud and construction machinery. It meets you in Lützerath.
The village is to be cleared to make more room for one of Europe’s largest open-pit coal mines. On Wednesday, the construction machines started working.
TOP HOUSING: For several years, climate campaigners have lived in treetop cabins in Lützerath. Photo: Santiago Vergara/TV 2
– I am here to defend Lützerath. Beneath us lie several million tonnes of coal, which must never be burned, says Sasha Lorenz.
– It is not only a climate crisis, but also an energy crisis. Don’t need the charcoal?
– The coal located here cannot be extracted during the next few years. It is not true what the politicians say. We must not forget that there is a climate crisis. Although we are not the worst hit, we are already seeing flood problems here in Germany. In other countries it is much worse.
Sasha says that there is a tense atmosphere among the demonstrators.
– We have already seen violence from the police. At the same time, I see a lot of power in the people who have come here. We are here in solidarity.
From the tree-top cabin where Sasha lives, we can look down on the police in full riot gear. The police have built up a large operational base right next to the village.
– Are you scared?
– Of course I’m scared, because we don’t know what the police can come up with. That is why we prepare and we support each other. But the climate crisis is happening now, and therefore we are ready to take risks.
On Thursday morning, the police are in place with water cannons in Lützerath. The police action took place throughout the night. For the most part, they have tried to “dissolve” and remove people who have attached themselves to various objects. There are still many left inside Lützerath, especially up in treetop cabins, climate activists tell TV 2.
Got the green light
On Wednesday, the police started to clear away protesters, so that the construction machines can get there. On Monday, a court gave permission to demolish the village.
FAST FOR THE CLIMATE: The demonstrators use their own technique to avoid being thrown out by the police. They chain themselves or hang down from ropes and trees. Photo: Santiago Vergara/TV 2
Via loudspeakers, the police ask the activists to leave the city. They will be escorted out of the area with the help of the police.
The police attempt to remove a young woman from a tree with two cranes. Climate activists are still sitting on the roofs, refusing to leave the village. Others have chained themselves together on the ground. Police tactics seem to remove the protesters, one by one.
A group of protesters carry a cross. Others pray the “Our Father”.
– We will stay as long as it takes to defend Lützerath. To avoid that the coal in the soil beneath us is burned, says Tapir.
He has chained himself together with a group of protesters. Police are standing around them. They are trying to get them to surrender voluntarily.
Lützerath is more than a vacated village not far from the border with Belgium and the Netherlands. It has become a symbol of the climate fight against the energy crisis. On Wednesday morning, some protesters threw Molotov cocktails at the police.
Sasha says she hopes that the journalists also write about why they are here, not just about the fact that some protesters have thrown stones and other things at the police.
– Even if there are “hooligans” at a football match, the match is also covered.
The demonstrators complain that the police use a disproportionate amount of violence against them.
Police spokesperson Andreas Müller denies to TV 2 that the police are violent.
He says their strategy is to talk to the climate activists and try to get them to leave the area voluntarily.
– Sometimes we still have to use coercion, says Müller.
The police realize that the evacuation of the area will take several days.
Last weekend, almost 10,000 people gathered for a demonstration in Lützerath. At the weekend, Greta Thunberg has announced that she is coming to take part in a support demonstration.
The power crisis requires more coal
Close to the village is the open pit coal mine of the energy company RWE, an open wound in the landscape of almost 6 by 6 kilometres, a total of 35 square kilometres. It is called day mining. The coal is located directly under the earth’s crust. Easy and cheap to mine.
– We must not burn the earth. If we are to fulfill the Paris Agreement, then Lützerath must pass, says a young woman, who does not want to give her name. Many of the protesters will not show their faces.
The Garzweiler mine is now to be expanded. Even more lignite will be extracted, a CO2 waste. Already several years ago, the company bought up houses in the village, in order to level it with the ground. Those who originally lived in Lützerath disappeared several years ago.
The plan is for Germany to phase out the use of coal by 2030. Then came the war in Ukraine. The Germans were the Russians’ best gas customer in Europe. After Putin cut off the flow of gas to Germany and other countries, coal again became indispensable. If not, Germany may at times receive too little electricity.
Lives in the treetops
Inside Lützerath, it looks deserted at first. But then you discover that there are people hanging from the trees, or they are sitting on roofs or in windows. Hundreds stay within the city limits.
MANNER STRENGTH: A police operation lasting several days has been set up in the area. The police realize that it will take time to clear the village. Photo: Santiago Vergara/TV 2
Ever since 2020, climate activists have lived in the village. Sasha has lived here on several occasions. Now she has been back for a week. She has studied politics and usually works. Until now there has been a communal kitchen, which has prepared three meals a day. She does not know how things will turn out in the future. She has no plans to leave the treetop.
