After nuclear phase-out, Germany mulls coal exit

Berlin

AFTER deciding to scrap nuclear power, Germany is pondering saying goodbye to coal, its biggest energy source but also its top polluter and main threat to ambitious climate goals.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's government is split on the issue, which pits a vocal environmental movement against energy giants and coal-mining regions, with only weeks until her Cabinet is set to present its next climate action plan.

Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks has said that if Europe's biggest economy doesn't reduce coal use, it has no chance of meeting its 2020 target of cutting Earth-warming carbon emissions by 40 per cent from three decades earlier.

Ms Hendricks' Cabinet colleague in charge of the economy and energy, Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, sees things differently and has argued that coal is here to stay, citing…