European Union

By Sören Amelang | – Tesla’s announcement to build a “gigafactory” for e-car production in Germany is likely to speed up the slow shift to electric mobility in the country, politicians and mobility experts have said. Media called the announcement a “head-on attack” on the country’s mighty carmakers BMW, Daimler and VW that will force […]

Climate Crisis

Germany’s Carbon Dioxide Emissions to Fall “Markedly” in 2019 as Energy Use Declines

Clean Energy Wire

By Benjamin Wehrmann and Julian Wettengel | – Germany is headed for second consecutive year of substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, as a sharp drop in coal consumption is driving a decline of the country’s overall energy use in 2019. If this trend continues, the country could get much closer to its 2020 climate […]

Climate Crisis

Not done Destroying Earth, Germany’s Far Right to Make anti-Climate Activism Major Plank in Campaign

Clean Energy Wire

By Julian Wettengel | – (Clean Energy Wire) – Germany’s right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) has made its critique of policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to protect the global climate a major issue in its political strategy. “After the euro and immigration, criticism of the so-called climate action policy is the third major […]

Climate Change

The Anti-Trump: Germany’s Merkel Commits to Ambitious 2030 Climate Goals

Clean Energy Wire

With Incentives, CO2 Price

European Union

Britain’s Trump: The Further Failure of Right Wing Populism

Farhang Jahanpour

(Informed Comment) – After only six weeks in office, Johnson’s grand plan to leave the European Union with or without a deal by 31 October has collapsed like a pack of cards and, instead, he may have the shortest term as prime minister in British history. So, unlike the United States, the cause of right […]

European Union

Will Boris Johnson taking Britain to New Elections Result in an Even More Ideological Government?

The Conversation

By Matthew Cole | – Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, has confirmed that he will call a vote on holding a general election if MPs legislate to block a no-deal Brexit. His pledge came after he lost a key vote to the so-called rebel alliance of MPs, which included numerous members of his own […]

European Union

To preserve democracy, the UK needs a mass movement both inside and outside Parliament

Waging Nonviolence

By Symon Hill ( Waging Nonviolence) – Thousands of people poured onto the streets of the United Kingdom . . . to challenge Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to suspend Parliament. Activists are used to calling on politicians to make decisions, not to take direct action. But that’s precisely what’s needed to stop Boris Johnson’s […]

European Union

Brexit: After PM Boris Johnson’s Coup, what’s left of the British constitution?

British Policy and Politics

The contemptuous ease with which the Johnson-Cummings regime has attempted to cripple parliamentary consideration of alternatives to a no-deal Brexit by proroguing Parliament raises further serious issues about the remaining value of the UK’s ‘unfixed constitution’. This controversy comes after a prolonged period in which the executive under May used every micro-institutional weapon to blackmail […]

Featured

France Upstages Trump at G7 by Inviting Iran to Salvage Nuclear Deal

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In a surprise development, Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif suddenly flew to Biarritz on Sunday for meetings on the sidelines of the G7 summit. He clearly was invited at the instance of French President Emannuel Macron, who is still attempting to salvage what he can of the 2015 Iran nuclear […]