Germany's Greens party can weather disapproval from its environmentalist base over its role in approving the demolition of a village to expand a coal mine if it uses that concession to accelerate other climate policies, activists and analysts say.
Two Greens ministers fronted the government decision to demolish Luetzerath village in western Germany, a move that led to scuffles between activists and police in protests over the past week. Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was briefly detained.on condition the energy firm phased out coal eight years earlier than planned in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Other Greens supporters saw it as a pragmatic move when Germany needs to replace dwindling Russian gas supplies amid the Ukraine crisis but they said it should be followed by squeezing more from coalition partners to make a faster shift towards renewable energy and to push other climate policies. The party will be measured against the green elements of the government's agenda to ensure renewable energy covers 80% of power output by 2030 and to clean up transport and construction, which missed annual greenhouse gas emission targets in 2022.
Still, the party is benefiting from the popularity of the Greens leaders, Economy Minister Robert Habeck and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who took a lead on the mine saga. Polling shows the party would secure 18% of the vote if an election was held now, four points above the 2021 vote.
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