By Patrick McGroarty
Environment ministers from nine German states warned Friday they will consider filing a lawsuit at Germany’s constitutional court against the federal government if it recommends extending the life of the country’s nuclear reactors.
“We will exercise our right if necessary, at the constitutional court as well,” Johannes Remmel, environment minister from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, said Friday.
Remmel told reporters he believes the plants aren’t necessary for Germany to meet its energy requirements as more renewable power flows into the grid, and said his and the eight other states believed an extension would be unconstitutional.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government is expected to present a comprehensive package of energy policy proposals by the end of September, including a plan to extend the life of nuclear reactors. A previous German government had planned to phase out the plants by 2021, but Merkel now argues they will be needed longer, to give the country more time to switch from traditional to renewable energy sources.
None of the states whose ministers joined in the announcement are home to one of Germany’s 17 nuclear power plants. Governments in many of the states that do hold nuclear plants support an extension, which would protect industry and employment in their state.
