Solar Industry Supporters Take to the Streets in Protest in Berlin
Around 11,000 people converged on the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Monday to protest against the “solar phase-out.” This is an impressive signal to the German Federal Government to abandon plans to radically curtail the expansion of and support for solar power.
The mass rally at the Brandenburg Gate was called by the German Solar Industry Association (BSW-Solar), together with the Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB), the Industrial Union of Steel Workers (IG Metall), the Mining, Chemical and Energy Industrial Union (IG BCE) and German Environmental Aid (DUH). At the demonstration, political leaders including Sigmar Gabriel, Jürgen Trittin and Gregor Gysi declared their solidarity with solar industry employees who would be affected by the cuts.
The organizers of the rally appealed to members of the German Bundestag and to the Federal Chancellor to forego additional cuts in the support for solar power, which is already in rapid decline. If the draft legislation is not stopped or significantly revised, the solar industry fears a market downturn of up to 75 percent. In the process, the operation of solar power systems will for the most part become unprofitable, a wave of bankruptcies will be inevitable, and 100,000 jobs will be threatened. The energiewende, Germany’s transformation of the energy system, cannot possibly succeed without a continued robust expansion of the use of solar power.
Tags: 100 000 jobs, Berlin, BSW-Solar, energy system, environment, federal government, german bundestag, german solar, Germany, mass rally, solar industry, solar power, solar power systems, steel workers, trade unions
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