No, the problem is the 16% 'Kernenergie' which they have made a commitment to get out of, and for which they don't really have a replacement. 25% of their energy demand is problematic as we speak.Originally Posted by earthJoker
That's the 11.3% (Erd)gas that might be a problem. They didn't had any problems so far to use coal as substitute. The 20% of coal currently coming from Russia can be easily replaced by other countries, coal is quite easy to ship around the oceans.
Congratulations America
There's a lot going on in that post, Loki. Many assumptions and presumptions, from "we" to "ban"....to referencing Hitler.
There's no question that Putin violated international norms, subverted accord agreements made b/w US-Russia-England-Ukraine, and 'over-played' his hand. But I'm not sure there's consensus of what "we" means. Does that mean military alliances, central banks, or what?
And yes, priorities need to be sorted. What are "our" priorities again? I've lost track....
As I said before, they haven't got any problems substituting with coal so far, is there any reason why they should have problems now? And they got plenty of time to replace the 1& nuclear energy.
"Wer Visionen hat, sollte zum Arzt gehen." - Helmut Schmidt
Relying on coal isn't so great, either. It's still a fossil fuel, with (negative) carbon footprints.
Hmmmm...freeze, continue to give Putin cash, or temporarily use coal until better alternative can come on line...
Brevior saltare cum deformibus viris est vita
I never said that. But they got 21% from alternative sources, which is not so bad either.
"Wer Visionen hat, sollte zum Arzt gehen." - Helmut Schmidt
But...but...carbon footprint!
As for anyone who was still taking Russia's promises seriously:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/24/wo...n-kiev.html?hp
Hope is the denial of reality
Your are contradicted by today's New York Times which states that Russian imports cover 1/3 of Germany's energy consumption. Which means the effects on Germany are quite big. Not only will it have to rely on imports at higher prices, also its pull out from nuclear will be near impossible.
Congratulations America
It's 1/3 of the import not 1/3 of the consumption. Germany still harvest huge amounts of coal themself. And coal, unlike gas, can easily be inported from anyone else. If Germany doesn't like Russian coal, it can ship it from any other country.
"Wer Visionen hat, sollte zum Arzt gehen." - Helmut Schmidt
I'm still waiting for you to say what exactly is Russia's option if Germany pisses it off. Is it going to cut off energy supplies to Europe and go bankrupt in the process?
BBC:
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26724081"Russia is even more reliant on the European market as the destination of 80% percent of its oil and gas exports," he said in his testimony at the hearing.
"So, who is more reliant on whom? This has more to do with the exercise of political will rather than of economic leverage.
Last edited by Loki; 03-25-2014 at 10:04 PM.
Hope is the denial of reality
You seem to forget there was a time that Russia cut itself off and got away with it for the better part of the 20th century.
Congratulations America
You seem to forget that the ruling class in Russia has changed since then. As have the people.
Hope is the denial of reality
You say Germany still mines "huge" amounts of coal, but those charts focus primarily on oil/gas imports. That's because coal is considered dirtier (and more dangerous) than oil/gas. Plenty of countries don't want to mine it, and have converted their power plants away from coal. China is an exception. Nations can't just temporarily use coal until better alternatives come on line as suggested.
I hear having your neighbors conquered by an aggressive wannabe great power is even more dangerous than coal.
Hope is the denial of reality
Coal is an energy source. Energy sources are used for geo-political power...but coal isn't at the top of the list.
Meanwhile in Germany
Hungry Braunkohlebagger nam nam nam...
"Wer Visionen hat, sollte zum Arzt gehen." - Helmut Schmidt
Huh, apparently they can.
Brevior saltare cum deformibus viris est vita
I wish you good luck finding any EU country with relevant influence that considers Ukraine a neighbour.
Congratulations America
It's still less than 20 percent of their national energy needs.
Really?It's still less than 20 percent of their national energy needs.
Kohle = coal. As you can see brown coal (11.7%) and black coal (12.6%) make up 24.3% of Germany's energy consumption.
"Wer Visionen hat, sollte zum Arzt gehen." - Helmut Schmidt
On an aside, where are all the European leftists protests against Russian actions? I thought they pretended to care about international law and aggression? All I see is the German left sucking up to Putin on this issue. It's utterly disgraceful.
Hope is the denial of reality
Russia is not 1st World. That means it is oppressed and is only seeking to improve its lot from that imposed on it by the yoke of capitalist power. Its actions are in many respects laudable and even if one might perhaps wince at some aspects, such should be kept private lest it detract from the primary goal of displaying yuppie privilege-guilt. Besides, since it's a net energy-exporter they can't use their most beloved slogans.
Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"
Well, the Dutch lefties are busy with Wilders..
I will say I've read some comments on a news site (which are a far cry from leftist) with a big anti EU sentiment to begin with, and complaining that the USA should shut up because they also invaded Iraq and bombed Libya, so who are they to complain. But that's on a more rightwing site. Lefties are mostly busy with other things or simply don't care, I suppose. Plus keep in mind the very much bigger invasion of Iraq didn't lead to any sanctions, either.
Keep on keepin' the beat alive!
Can I take it to mean that if the US attacked another country, there would also be no protests? Seeing that the last time didn't lead to sanctions. I really fail to see the logic here. Someone either is for international law and against aggression or they don't care. One doesn't get to only support international law when it's violated by countries they dislike. And seeing that taking someone's territory is about the most egregious violation of international law, if one doesn't care about such a violation, then one clearly doesn't give a damn about international law. The European left revealed its ideology, which is anti-Americanism. It has no interest in international law. It doesn't care about human rights. It's not concerned with aggression. It's not interested in discrimination against ethnic or sexual minorities in other parts of the world. All it cares about is condemning America and Israel. The current situation made me lose all the respect I've ever had for the European left (granted it wasn't much to start with, but I thought they at least legitimately cared about international law and human rights).
On an aside, 55% of Germans are sympathetic with the Russian position that invading other countries to protect fellow ethnics is justified...
Technically speaking, Russian desire to control Ukraine's oil and gas pipelines are one of the major causes of the current events.
Hope is the denial of reality
Hey, I'm not saying I agree with it, nor that the left here in general does. I'm European, and a leftie, and I most certainly condemn this. I've never taken to the streets for any protest though.
But, just to play devils advocate, your problem is that they're not marching the streets as with the Iraq war? Need I remind you that this has been pretty much non violent and a way smaller scale? In Iraq thousands of civilians were killed, which is a big difference.
Plus using your logic I take it the USA also only cares about condemning Russia, not intensional law or aggression? Or human rights?
Keep on keepin' the beat alive!
The protests against the Iraq war started before the fighting began. And I'm not expecting everyone to protest, just the same groups that protested in 2003.
I don't follow the logic on the last point.
Hope is the denial of reality
Again, just to play the devil's advocate, there's a big difference between what happened here and an outright war. And I don't recall major protests against anything recently, tbh, not Libya, Egypt, Syria, etc. There have been smaller scale protests, by the way, but they hardly made the news. Plus the more extreme lefties don't trust the media, and assuming that to be biased the logic follows Russia might be right about a bunch of things, and once you believe that the government in Kiev is supported by extreme right groups, and one of the first things they did was curb the freedoms of an ethnic minority, as a self respecting leftie you might not be able to condemn this. Especially, as said, when it's been without major violence.
Last point is that you said if you only protest things selectively, depending on who committed it, one doesn't care about it at all.
Keep on keepin' the beat alive!
There is no prevailing "logic" here. That's theCan I take it to mean that if the US attacked another country, there would also be no protests? Seeing that the last time didn't lead to sanctions. I really fail to see the logic here. Someone either is for international law and against aggression or they don't care. One doesn't get to only support international law when it's violated by countries they dislike. And seeing that taking someone's territory is about the most egregious violation of international law, if one doesn't care about such a violation, then one clearly doesn't give a damn about international law. The European left revealed its ideology, which is anti-Americanism. It has no interest in international law. It doesn't care about human rights. It's not concerned with aggression. It's not interested in discrimination against ethnic or sexual minorities in other parts of the world. All it cares about is condemning America and Israel. The current situation made me lose all the respect I've ever had for the European left (granted it wasn't much to start with, but I thought they at least legitimately cared about international law and human rights).
On an aside, 55% of Germans are sympathetic with the Russian position that invading other countries to protect fellow ethnics is justified...
Technically speaking, Russian desire to control Ukraine's oil and gas pipelines are one of the major causes of the current events.pointproblem.
No one expects any better of Russia.
The light that once I thought compassion still casting shadows in your action
The words you shared were cold transactions that bring me to curse what you've done
When you're up there absorbed in greatness with such success you've grown complacent
I hope you scorch your many faces when you fly too close to the sun
Hah, your generic European lefty doesn't expect any better from America either. They think the US is the root of all evil in the world.
Hope is the denial of reality
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