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Project Planet A – a plea for ecomodernism

Germany, quo vadis?

The German energy transition (named “Energiewende”) and the planned coal phase-out have been preoccupying us for some time now because CO2 emissions from fossil fuels are increasingly being recognised as problematic. In Germany, we have so far managed the transition to 40% renewable electricity. “100% renewable energy” by 2050 is the goal that our politicians are currently working towards. The current discussion is being intensified by the youth movement Fridays for Future.

One thing is certain: we must move away from fossil fuels in order to reduce CO2 emissions globally. In the meantime, however, there are parallel demands that preach abdication: our progress and capitalism are to blame for climate change, and the only way forward, apart from a switch to a full supply of renewable energies, is through massive energy savings and the political, social and moral “Great Transformation” of our Western society. Is this a sensible solution, while other countries on earth are developing into industrialised nations, because they understandably also want to achieve our prosperity? But how can we soon feed and supply 11 billion people worldwide with useful energy without continuing to destroy our environment?

A completely new way by taking a different approach is offered to us here by ecomodernism, which wants to combine environmental and climate protection with prosperity and progress. This term was coined in 2015 by scientists from the Breakthrough Institute in the USA, who have written down their thoughts in an Ecomodern Manifesto. This “ecomodern” solution to our environmental problems is massively underestimated – which is why I have written this plea to explain the principle of ecomodernity and to highlight its advantages:

Project Planet A – a plea for ecomodernism (PDF)

For reasons of “TL;DR” an abstract of it is also available.

There is also a presentation (in german only at the moment) which is constantly being developed and which I would be happy to make it you are interested.

In addition, I support a discussion and further development of this new approach in the association “WePlanet DACH e.V.”.