The Aachen Bishop Helmut This is for a review of the coal exit law. In addition, the upcoming lead decision by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia “must be further developed more precisely,” he said.
According to his press office, he said this on Monday at a youth service in Merken. This affects three issues in particular: CO2 emissions should be reduced more quickly, the scope of coal mining should be limited more and the local people should be consulted about the future of the Erkelenz villages. These include the towns of Berverath, Keyenberg, Kuckum, Lützerath and Oberwestrich / Unterwestrich.
The villages are located in the planned mining area of the Garzweiler II opencast mine. The initiative “Leave the church (s) in the village” fights for the preservation of the localities and places of worship. In autumn 2019, the Christkönig parish in Erkelenz sold the churches in Keyenberg, Kuckum and Berverath to the energy company RWE.
The coal exit law does not fit the compromise
The bishop pointed out that the coal compromise of 2019 and the coal phase-out law passed by the Bundestag and Council in July of this year did not go together in the eyes of the critics. “Because what the coal compromise foresaw has been weakened considerably in retrospect,” he said. At the same time, in the service with around 50 young people, he called on the supporters of coal mining and environmental activists to “not offend themselves and not fall into any form of violence – neither in language nor in action” in all different positions.
According to the Coal Phase-Out Act, Germany’s coal-fired power plants are to be shut down by 2038 at the latest. Residents of the Garzweiler opencast mine have lodged a constitutional complaint to prevent the planned destruction of other villages by lignite mining.
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