Merkel Faces Nuclear Exit Bill as States Exert Pressure After Japan Crisis

[phantom power]

Chancellor Angela Merkel faces a bid by members of the upper house of parliament to force her to abandon nuclear power as she tries to rally German state leaders behind an overhaul of energy policy by the middle of May.

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The coalition aims to expand offshore wind parks and build more gas plants to plug a potential gap in power generation that would follow a retreat from nuclear, according to a government paper. Merkel’s Cabinet backed plans two days ago to allow utilities to pump greenhouse gases underground via technology known as carbon capture and storage.

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The federal and state governments will discuss planning issues that have blocked development of a power grids capable of carrying the electricity generated by renewable energies such as new wind parks, said Lower Saxony Prime Minister David McAllister, who is also a board member of Volkswagen AG.

“Whoever says yes to building up renewable energies has to also say yes to building a new power grid,” McAllister, a member of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, said on ARD television today. “We have to take the people with us better than we have in the past.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-14/merkel-faces-nuclear-exit-bill-as-german-states-exert-pressure.html