Germany hammers Trump over debate barbs about Berlin’s energy transition

Germany’s foreign ministry hit back Wednesday at former U.S. President Donald Trump after he criticized the country’s energy policy at the presidential debate against Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump slammed Germany in his closing remarks, claiming Berlin regretted its decision to transition to renewable energy.

“You believe in things like we’re not going to frack, we’re not going to take fossil fuel, we’re not going to do things that are going to be strong, whether you like it or not,” he said, addressing Harris.

“Germany tried that, and within one year, they were back to building normal energy plants,” he added.

But the German foreign ministry took umbrage at that, blasting Trump in an unusually blunt statement on social media.

“Like it or not: Germany’s energy system is fully operational, with more than 50 percent renewables,” the ministry wrote. “And we are shutting down — not building — coal and nuclear plants. Coal will be off the grid by 2038 at the latest.”

Like it or not: Germany’s energy system is fully operational, with more than 50% renewables. And we are shutting down – not building – coal & nuclear plants. Coal will be off the grid by 2038 at the latest. PS: We also don’t eat cats and dogs. #Debate2024 pic.twitter.com/PiDO98Vxfo— GermanForeignOffice (@GermanyDiplo) September 11, 2024

“PS: We also don’t eat cats and dogs. #Debate2024,” the statement added, referring to Trump repeating a widely debunked claim that undocumented immigrants were eating people’s pets in Ohio.

Germany, which had deepened its reliance on cheap Russian oil and gas for decades, faced a major energy crisis at the beginning of the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine and was forced to keep several coal-fired power plants online for longer than planned, while restarting others.

Berlin has also faced criticism over its controversial decision to shutter nuclear reactors after Japan’s 2011 Fukushima disaster, a move which was pushed by then-Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative-liberal coalition.

Opponents, including other governing parties, were quick to warn that the decision would lead to more fossil fuels being burned for energy, and that German nuclear power plants were unlikely to face the threat of a tsunami.

Initially, Germany burned almost 10 percent more coal to make up for the shortfall in electricity production, with rising prices for natural gas in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine making it a cheap alternative. But that change has since been reversed and use of coal-fired power plants in Germany last year dropped to the lowest level in decades.

While it’s not clear what Trump means by a “normal power plant,” no new coal-fired plants are being built in Germany — although the government has abandoned its original 2030 deadline for phasing out coal in order to shore up its energy supplies.

However, in a decision decried by environmental activists, Berlin in February signed off on a plan to build four major new natural gas plants that it said were needed to supplement its renewable energy supplies.