euro|topics - Wolfgang Roth

Roth, Wolfgang

4 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

Süddeutsche Zeitung - Germany | 11/11/2008

Gorleben as a battleground

Accompanied by protests, the eleventh transport of nuclear waste from the French nuclear reprocessing plant in La Hague has arrived at the intermediate storage facility in Gorleben. The daily Süddeutsche Zeitung predicts that nuclear energy will be a major issue in the parliamentary elections of 2009: "It looks good when a democracy strictly observes the right to demonstrate and takes a relaxed stance on non-violent forms of civil disobedience. ... The basic conflict is and remains unsolvable ... . Atomic energy is a form of energy that requires ... complex security systems and people are sometimes unable to deal with this complexity. But it is also rational to recall that so far the only accident with serious consequences was Chernobyl. ... But whichever way you look at it Gorleben remains the symbolic site where opposition to nuclear energy coalesces. ... Neither the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) nor the Social Democratic Party (SPD) have the desire or the courage to initiate an open-ended search for a final disposal site."

Süddeutsche Zeitung - Germany | 31/10/2008

Wolfgang Roth on climate protection

Wolfgang Roth writes in the Süddeutsche Zeitung on the different standards for poor and rich countries concerning environmental protection: "As long as the rich states cannot show that it is possible to introduce a more environmentally friendly model for economic growth and prosperity they have no right to make demands on the rest of the world. In the end no moral argument can justify some countries having a greater right to pollute the atmosphere than others. On a per capita basis, Germany produces at least three times as much harmful carbon emissions as China. And America produces at least five times as much. A trading system that would allow everyone on earth the same contingent is still a Utopia. Such a scheme would involve slowing both climate change and population growth, and that is not possible without combating poverty, the education gap and discrimination against women. If global warming is to be limited to two degrees, China, India, Europe and the US must agree on the same level of emissions. This would mean a sharp reduction of greenhouse gases for the classical industrial states and a limited increase for the others."

Süddeutsche Zeitung - Germany | 31/07/2008

Smoking permitted

In a landmark decision Germany's constitutional court has lifted the ban on smoking in small bars and pubs. In contrast to other European countries this makes the future of the smoking ban in Germany uncertain. "Politics, which sees itself as a formative force, has ... suffered a defeat," the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung writes. "The labyrinth of exemptions in Germany ... ultimately led to inconsistent legislation that contravenes the principle of equality. ... And even if some will find it hard to swallow we should be a little grateful for the fact that here in Germany we have constitutional courts that make clean decisions in cases of conflicting fundamental rights. ... The Germans are struggling with the smoking ban in the catering sector, but on the other hand there are no piles of rubbish on the streets and the German Chancellor is not the owner of a business empire that profits from her government."

Süddeutsche Zeitung - Germany | 11/06/2008

A throttle on environmental protection

Wolfgang Roth criticises European environmental policy in the wake of a new agreement between Germany and France on CO2 limits for car manufacturers. "All EU states are committed to climate protection, but the traffic sector produces more greenhouse gases today than in 1990. New expressways are being built everywhere ... while train traffic has grown appreciably in just one country in the entire market: Switzerland, which is not a member of the EU. This is not right, and Germany is largely to blame. Mrs Merkel's compromise with the French president is worthless in a number of respects. ... European consumer guidelines are necessary because politicians steer clear of the only decisive parameter, namely the number of kilometres drivers travel in their cars. ... By the look of things, rising oil prices provide the sole efficient corrective. They could ultimately give the necessary stimulus for public transport and rail freight."

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