Germany was all in a lather to shut down its nuclear reactors after the disaster at Fukushima panicked the country’s leaders.
What if a similar tsunami and earthquake hit Germany? Nevermind that Germany, unlike Japan, isn’t located on an ocean coastline prone to tsunamis. The point was to make a public show of devotion to alternatives (even if that might mean coal), and please Euro envirozealots.
So Berlin declared that it would shut down eight of its 17 reactors immediately, and the rest within a decade or so. Great celebration. Hurray for the far-seeing legislators and their deep appreciation of environmental concerns.
Except now Europe’s economic powerhouse is worried about brownouts, and is busily importing energy from countries with working rectors and pollution-spewing coal plants.