What German climate activists can learn from America’s tech disciples

Climate activists in Munich

Climate activists from the environmental movement “Last Generation” block traffic.

(Photo: dpa)

Uncomprehending and with great astonishment, Americans look at German climate activists: people who stick their fingers on the asphalt in protest or wantonly destroy works of art with paint? That would be unthinkable in the US. Nobody turns down the heating there. More Americans flew on Thanksgiving this year than before the pandemic. No trace of flight shame.

This is not only because the Americans can cover their energy needs themselves even in these times. It’s also a question of culture and mentality: Americans are far from abstaining and self-flagellation. They seek their salvation in progress alone. New technologies should enable the fight against global warming. In the form of a new Tesla, an electrified mega pick-up like the Ford Lightning or in the form of the new technology for extracting CO2 from the air and then storing it.

Is the American approach naïve as the Europeans claim? As is so often the case, the truth lies somewhere in the middle: Doing one thing and not neglecting the other – that would be the best strategic approach.

This means that Americans should do more to save energy and emit less CO2 into the air. But the Germans and Europeans should not limit themselves to doing without, but make better use of the opportunities offered by new technologies for generating energy and eliminating CO2. If not now, then when? In fact, the energy shock associated with the Ukraine war could mark a turning point.

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The attitude of the German climate activists, which sometimes seems a bit hypocritical, is rather counterproductive.

Texas is a leader in wind energy

Germany complains about the environmentally harmful fracking, but does not shy away from using the resulting “dirty” liquid gas in the winter. Russian gas and oil, which Germany has been importing for decades against all warnings from the western world, is also not protecting the climate and was hardly promoted in a sustainable manner.

>> Read also: How the USA attracts German companies thanks to low energy prices

There is no question that Americans could and should save energy too. Saving energy has never been a big issue in the consumption-driven USA: neither when buying a car nor when owning a home. Even people who are well aware of the climate problem do not want to change their habits in their everyday lives: in summer, rooms are cooled down to 20 degrees by air conditioning, in winter the heating is set to 25 degrees. And in industry, too, saving energy only plays a secondary role. That needs to change.

With more than 77,000 kilowatt hours per year, the USA leads the world in terms of annual per capita energy consumption. Germany has less than 42,000 kilowatt hours per capita and year.

Air conditioners in New York

Saving energy plays only a minor role for many people in the USA.

(Photo: AP)

Opportunities certainly lie in the fact that, thanks to state support, investments in solar and wind energy are currently being made on a gigantic scale in the USA. And that too in Republican-governed oil states like Texas, which would already be the fifth or sixth largest producer of wind energy in the world in a country comparison.

Such states do not necessarily have a green heart, but they do know about energy issues. If technological progress makes wind and solar energy cheaper than coal and oil, then they too will go to alternative energies. And oil companies like Oxy suddenly see more business in storing CO2 in their empty drilling fields than in producing new oil. All of this without sacrifice and self-flagellation, but thanks to new technologies.

Ultimately, our planet doesn’t care who cuts emissions and why. The main thing is that the temperature goes down. All paths must be legitimate and Americans and Europeans must complement each other with their approaches.

More: World climate conference leaves many questions unanswered

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