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Press release on 17.10.2022

On the occasion of the opening of the first liquefied natural gas terminal in Wilhelmshaven this Saturday, the action alliance Ende Gelände announced massive resistance against a rollback in the use of fossil fuels. There was both a protest action in Wilhelmshaven against the expansion of infrastructure for LNG imports and solidarity actions in several German cities against the threatened demolition of the village of Lützerath at the Garzweiler open pit lignite mine. With the different actions the alliance for climate justice wants to force the fundamental turning away from the fossil energies oil, coal and gas.

Charly Dietz, press spokesperson for Ende Gelände, commented:
“We are in the middle of the climate crisis. But instead of finally getting out of oil, coal and gas and initiating a radical energy turnaround, we are experiencing a massive comeback of fossil fuels. Today, the first German LNG terminal is being launched in Wilhelmshaven. Yet gas is an accelerant of the climate crisis. Ten more LNG terminals are to follow, and by 2043 they will be able to bring more gas to Germany each year than is currently consumed. We will resolutely oppose the import of LNG. Those who so unscrupulously burn our future must expect massive resistance from the climate justice movement.”

The production and transportation of LNG releases methane, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere, which is many times more damaging to the climate than CO2. In terms of their climate footprint, therefore, liquefied petroleum gas and coal are comparable. Scientific studies also show that the construction of LNG terminals creates overcapacities for fossil gas. Accordingly, neither the construction of LNG terminals nor the reactivation of old coal-fired power plants are necessary for supply security. Instead, they contradict the rapid phase-out of fossil energies and become an obstacle to the necessary energy transition.

Dina Hamid, press spokesperson for Ende Gelände in North Rhine-Westphalia, commented:
“It is absolutely clear that behind the fossil rollback are the profit interests of the energy companies. While in the current crisis many no longer know how to pay their energy bill, RWE and Co. are making record profits again this year. That’s why we in Lützerath are fighting not only for climate justice, but also for the socialization of energy companies and a fundamental change in the system. For us it is clear: In a system where profits and not needs count, there can be no social justice.”

Already in the past years, the action alliance Ende Gelände has carried out mass actions of civil disobedience for the immediate gas phase-out. In Brunsbüttel, for example, several thousand people blocked the ChemCoast Park industrial area because of the liquefied natural gas terminal planned there, and in Wilhelmshaven hundreds occupied the construction site of the pipeline to the LNG terminal there. Ende Gelände was founded in 2015 and has shaped the discourse on coal phase-out, climate crisis and climate justice with mass blockades in lignite mining areas. For January, the alliance has called for mass actions against the eviction of the threatened village of Lützerath.

Contact details
Charly Dietz: +49 163 681 177 6
For NRW Dina Hamid: +49 179 4166547

E-Mail
presse@ende-gelaende.org

Website
www.ende-gelaende.org