Germany’s No-Nukes Decision

Matt Yglesias at the Center for American Progress worries that carbon emissions will rise due to a backlash against nuclear power, such as Germany’s decision earlier this week to phase out all of its nuclear power plants by early next decade. He concludes with the hope that Europe’s cap-and-trade permit system will keep those carbon emissions in check. Too bad he doesn’t do a little reporting before rushing to make one of his two dozen daily blog posts.

Matt Yglesias at the Center for American Progress worries that carbon emissions will rise due to a backlash against nuclear power, such as Germany’s decision earlier this week to phase out all of its nuclear power plants by early next decade. He concludes with the hope that Europe’s cap-and-trade permit system will keep those carbon emissions in check. Too bad he doesn’t do a little reporting before rushing to make one of his two dozen daily blog posts. Even a cursory search would inform him that Germany has been the global leader in installation of alternative energy, accounting for fully half of global consumption of solar cells in the past decade. Germany is also the fastest growing economy in Europe. I’m sure Angela Merkel knew exactly what she was doing when she made that announcement. She was betting heavily on the future, not like some other countries I could mention.