European Union

From Kristallnacht to the Berlin Wall: The Tragedies and Triumphs of Nov. 9 remind us of the Dangers of Racism and the Beacon of Liberty

Philadelphia, Pa. (Special to Informed Comment) – November 9 is momentous. We move forward with new hope. However, we must not forget to be humble and compassionate, to remember that of which people are capable, both the evil and the triumphant. On November 9 and 10, 1938 (called Kristallnacht), mobs rampaged through Germany, smashing windows, […]

Germany

Greek Island going completely Green with Electric Vehicles, with Help of Volkswagen

Clean Energy Wire

By Charlotte Nijhuis | – ( Clean Energy Wire) – Volkswagen (VW) and the Greek government are planning a pilot project to introduce fully electric mobility on an island in the southeastern Aegean Sea, business daily Handelsblatt reports. In the next two years, all cars, trucks, motorcycles and buses on the island of Astypalea are […]

France

Why should every individual terrorist Attack bring Questions about all French Muslims’ loyalty to the Republic?

The Conversation

By Greg Barton and Fethi Mansouri | – After three people died in a knife attack in Nice this week that French President Emmanuel Macron called an “Islamist terrorist attack”, there was a sense of déjà vu — we have seen this before. Embed from Getty ImagesFrench Prime Minister Jean Castex (L) greets policemen near […]

Climate Crisis

A Solar Germany? Renewables are Covering Half of Germany’s Electricity Demand

Clean Energy Wire

By Edgar Meza | – (Clean Energy Wire ) – Germany has already surpassed last year’s record amount of solar power by late October, according to an analysis by the energy provider E.ON. “In total, more than 43 billion kWh of solar power have already been fed into the grid since the beginning of January […]

Climate Crisis

Germany aims at becoming “pioneer” in CO2-neutral aviation

Clean Energy Wire

By Sören Amelang | – ( Clean Energy Wire ) – Germany wants to extend its landmark energy transition (Energiewende) to the skies to become a trailblazer in climate-friendly flying. At a roundtable with industry, unions, researchers and the federal states, government representatives discussed the future of the aviation industry, and emission-free flying was a […]

Democratic Party

At Townhall, Biden Promises Big Green Infrastructure and Jobs: Spain’s Example Suggests he is Right

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In his townhall on Thursday evening, Joe Biden pointed to the way infrastructural investments in green energy will help the economy. He said, according to the ABC transcript, “For example, we’re going to invest a great deal of that money into infrastructure. And into green infrastructure. We’re going to put […]

France

Republican Food: French President Macron nails his colours to the Mast of Islamophobia

Open Democracy

By Chris Myant ( OpenDemocracy.net) – In the small Provençal town of Aups, where the local Catholic church declares République française: Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité [The French Republic: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity], above its main entrance, there is a plain and nondescript monument put up in 1881. Its plaque announces that it is there: A la memoire […]

Germany

Renewables cover almost half of German electricity use in first 9 months 2020

Julian Wettengel

(Clean Energy Wire ) – Renewables covered about 48 percent of German power consumption in the first three quarters of 2020, preliminary data from energy industry association BDEW and the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Wuerttemberg (ZSW) shows, a 5-percentage point increase over the same period last year. On the one hand, the […]

China

France’s Macron declares Europe’s independence of Trump, stands by Iran Nuclear Deal

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – French President Emmanuel Macron declared independence of the United States and of China for Europe at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, in the starkest “third way” bid for a French president since Charles De Gaulle withdrew from the military wing of NATO in 1965 and established France’s own nuclear […]