Category: cologne

It’s not only the Dannenröder Forst or the open-pit mine Garzweiler where our politicians stick to the ideas of yesteryear and ignore the climate emergency.

In our fair city, Cologne, the city council is determined to destroy the city’s lung, the green belt, for our soccer club’s benefit. The club is not that successful, they play on and off in the Bundesliga, but they are well-liked in the city.

Soccer is quite emotional, making it quite challenging to speak out against their expansion plans; however, the city’s climate and its inhabitants’ well-being are equally essential. There are several good alternatives to their plans to destroy the Gleuler Wiesen.

With the looming climate crisis upon us, we should no longer destroy old habitats for the profit of a few!

(Climate strike, Gleueler Wiesen, 10/31/20)

One year ago, we decided to add an after-work protest to the weekly climate strikes.

Much has happened since, not least, a global pandemic, but one thing did not change: Our politicians still largely ignore the climate emergency.

They seem unwilling to change, adapt, and leave the fossil era behind, not for themselves and not even for their kids.

What does that mean for us?

The science is obvious; we won’t stop fighting!

(Chlodwigplatz, properly distanced, 10/16/20)

All scientists and most politicians agree that the age of fossil fuels is past and that we need to focus on clean, renewable energy.

We also know that the demand for lignite will dramatically decrease over the next decade. However, RWE is still planning to enlarge the open-pit mine at Garzweiler and destroy several villages in the process without need.

Last weekend saw several coordinated protests from various anti-coal organizations against RWE’s actions.

Unfortunately, the NRW government decided to deploy riot police to stifle the legitimate protests, partially with brute force, again placing RWE’s corporate interests above its citizens, hurting and alienating even more of us in the process.

Not good.

(Hochneukirch, 9/26/20)

Last Friday, September 25, we saw the latest global Climate Strike.

After a long break, due to the Corona pandemic, we went back to the streets to protest against how our governments ignore the Climate Emergency and destroy our future. All while following the Corona distancing rules, of course.

Cologne alone had 10,000 protestors in the street; all over Germany, we were more than 200,000.

And this is only the beginning!

(Cologne, 9/25/20)

On Sunday, we had local elections in the state of North-Rhine Westphalia.

In my home town, Cologne, the Greens reached a clear majority in both the city council and the boroughs.

Let’s make Cologne climate-neutral and keep it colorful, tolerant, and diverse in the years to come!

(Source: https://wahlen.stadt-koeln.de/prod/KW2020/05315000/html5/index.html, 9/14/20)

On Friday, September 25, we’ll have the next global climate strike!

Fighting the climate emergency is as important as ever, and we need to keep up the pressure on our politicians.

Last Friday, we had a relatively successful dress rehearsal in Cologne and were able to validate the distancing concepts for the next big protest.

See you in the streets!

(In the streets of Cologne, 9/4/20)