You are here: Coal industry update | Energy policy

A comeback for coal

Globally coal is becoming more expensive and energy more scarce. Germany will therefore still need its own coal industry.

United in opposition to the closure of the German coal industry: Hannelore Kraft, NRW-SPD Chairman, Prof. Dr. Franz- Josef Wodopia, Chief Executive of the German Hard Coal Association, and Kurt Hay, IG BCE Westfalen regional chief (centre).

The IG BCE and the SPD are united on one thing: the plan to close the German coal industry in 2018 must be cancelled without delay. The IG BCE has launched a campaign to fight for the long-term survival of the mining sector. This was announced by IG-BCE Westfalen regional chief Kurt Hay when addressing a conference of the Coal Industry Group in Bottrop: »Closing the mining industry is a mistake from an energy point of view, from an industrial point of view and from a structural point of view.« The North Rhine-Westphalia based SPD group is backing the campaign. In the words of Hannelore Kraft, SPD Regional Chairman and Leader of the State Parliamentary Group, »Coal and lignite make a vital contribution to our energy supply. We want this to continue.« The IG BCE and the SPD have jointly agreed on a policy of »keeping the door open to a core production base. We will continue to fight for this.« more...

 

 

 

 

Source:

IG BCE Kompakt, the staff magazine of the Mining, Chemical and Energy Industrial Union, No. 12 December 2008