During week 230 of Greta Thunberg’s global climate strike, she was detained in Lützerath, a German village, protesting the expansion of a nearby coal mine. The tiny village will be demolished by the mine Garzweiler 2, only 5.6 miles from the town, executed by the owner’s RWE.
RWE was determined to build the mine, which would destroy five villages. The government compromised with the company, resulting in the defeat of Lützerath and the company’s promise of a faster energy transition from coal.
Combined with three other open-pit coal mines in the area, Garzweiler is responsible for about 20% of Germany’s carbon emissions. The other mines' growth has destroyed or upended 50 neighboring villages.
Thunberg with about 15,000 activists over the course of the week, assembled for a peaceful protest along the mines. Their alliance was grounded in the fact that Germany should focus on developing renewable energy, rather than mining more coal, lignite, or any other scarcity.
The police had threatened the group's removal if they did not retreat from the edge of the mine. Thunberg, one of the world’s most-known climate activists, accompanied other activists as they were carried away on Tuesday, January 17 from the adjacent mine.
After she was held, the police ran an identity check and released her. Likely to resume her global climate strike, championing climate action everywhere, Thunberg tweeted the following statement,
“Yesterday I was part of a group that peacefully protested the expansion of a coal mine in Germany. We were kettled by police and then detained but were let go later that evening.
Climate protection is not a crime."
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