Way more than two-thirds of Germans would not like to see the country's remaining nuclear power plants to be shut down in April. However, some green members within the governing parties hold a different view. What's happening is that a minority is imposing its ideological approach on the majority, the Christian Democrats have said.

The vast majority of Germans support the continued use of nuclear energy, despite the planned shut down of the country’s remaining nuclear power plants slated for April. According to a survey by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Bonn

a total of 71 per cent of those surveyed support the production of nuclear energy with appropriate systems, and only a little more than a quarter thinks that Germany should end nuclear-sourced energy once and for all. They believe that there is no need for nuclear power plants at all.

The conflict in Ukraine and the resulting severe energy crisis that engulfed Europe caused the German government a serious headache, as it was supposed to close the country’s three remaining nuclear power plants at the end of last year. This was decided by the government of former Chancellor Angela Merkel more than a decade ago.

However, the energy shortage caused by the suicidal European sanctions policy forced the current Social Democrat-Liberal-Green government coalition to keep three nuclear power plants in operation as a backup. Until now, the country was largely dependent on Russian energy imports but, due to the punitive sanctions, the government preferred to leave Russian energy behind, which caused severe shortages in the country, and sent prices skyrocketing. Even the further operation of the reserves was preceded by heated debates and tough battles of words within the ruling coalition.

While the Green Party vehemently advocates for ending nuclear power once and for all, the liberals say that in the midst of the energy crisis, the remaining power plants must be kept and their operation must be extended. The members of the largest government party, the Social Democrats, seem to have fallen hostage to the Green Party, because they only approved the April deadline with the permission of the climate activists, and they don’t even want to hear about an extension.

While more and more countries in Europe are seeing the benefits of investing in nuclear power, Germany is about to give up an extraordinary opportunity as Europe has seen a renaissance in the use of nuclear energy.

Despite this, Dr Andre Baumann, State Secretary for the Environment, Climate and Energy of Baden-Wurttemberg, which is home to the nuclear power plant near Neckarwestheim, insisted that the plant will close in April. Not surprisingly, Dr Baumann is a member of the Green Party.

Commenting on the above-mentioned poll and the Green Party’s overly assertive approach, Michael Kruse, the Liberal group’s energy policy spokesman, told the press that the government must listen to the German people and urgently change its course on energy policy.

The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) did not let the government’s madness go unchallenged, either. CDU politician Julia Klockner believes that the people’s voice is stronger now than ever before, and that it is negligent to abandon nuclear power and run more coal-fired plants instead, given the current energy crisis. What is happening, according to Christian Democrats, is that a social minority is imposing its ideological views on the majority.