Lützerath.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg called on Saturday at a large demonstration in Erkelenz not to give up the village of Lützerath.
On Saturday, thousands of people demonstrated again near the town of Lützerath against the clearing of the settlement and the threat of it being excavated for lignite mining. “The coal has to stay in the ground,” demanded climate activist Greta Thunberg, who, like Luisa Neubauer from Fridays for Future, took part in the protests.
The organizers spoke of 35,000 demonstrators in the afternoon, the police put the number at up to 10,000. On the fringes of the rally, there were clashes with the police when several hundred people broke through police lines and ran to the demolition edge of the open pit. Stones were thrown at security forces.
Greta Thunberg called for action on the climate crisis
“We must stop the destruction of this planet,” Thunberg called for action against the climate crisis at the rally. “However, the people in power do not act,” she criticized. This is “treason to future and present generations.”
“With our footprints in the mud, we mark the 1.5-degree limit for saving the climate here at the edge,” said the chairman of the environmental association BUND, Olaf Bandt. If the coal is burned under Lützerath, the requirements of the German climate protection law can no longer be met. The promise of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to want to be “Climate Chancellor” was “nothing but smoke and mirrors”.
Clearing of Lützerath is well advanced
The police have been clearing Lützerath since Wednesday and are now well advanced. On Friday, activists had to leave a last occupied building. However, demonstrators initially stayed in trees and in a self-made tunnel system.
“We hope that this is also a method that further delays the eviction,” said the spokeswoman for the “Lützerath Lives” initiative, Bente Opitz. The police called on people in the tunnel to exit for safety reasons.
The evacuation is based on an agreement between the federal government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the energy company RWE. On the other hand, this also provides for the phase-out of coal in the federal state to be brought forward to 2030.
Wüst and Neubaur defend the eviction
NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) and State Minister of Economics Mona Neubaur (Greens) defended the eviction. Wüst said on Deutschlandfunk that the debates were “all conducted.” At a certain point “one thing was also decided”.
Neubaur told WDR that the “very climate-damaging” coal under Lützerath is needed for energy security. It was also possible to bring the phase-out of coal forward by eight years. This means that “less CO2 will be emitted into the atmosphere”.
Dispute in the Greens about an agreement with RWE
The agreement with RWE is hotly disputed within the Greens. The Green Youth supports the protests and speaks of a breach of the Paris climate agreement. Other representatives of the Greens also took part in the protests. “Thousands are on their way to stand up for climate justice,” wrote member of the Bundestag and climate activist Kathrin Henneberger on Twitter.
By Saturday afternoon, more than 2,500 party members had signed an open letter from the Greens’ base, which opposed the agreement to demolish and evict Lützerath.
A petition started by cultural workers against the eviction is supported by more than 18,000 people. The Left Party declared its solidarity with the protests. “Our solidarity is with the people who defend Lützerath,” said party leader Janine Wissler at a top meeting of the left in Berlin. (afp)
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