One day before the federal election, the world-famous environmental activist Greta Thunberg travels to a village in the Rhenish lignite mining district. In the luggage: a small sign with a big message.
Only one country road separates the farmer Eckardt Heukamp’s farm from the Garzweiler opencast mine. And if the energy company RWE and the federal government have their way, soon not even that.
In order to prevent Lützerath and thus also the Heukamp farm from having to make way for coal mining, environmental activists Greta Thunberg (18) and Luisa Neubauer (25) traveled to the village in North Rhine-Westphalia on Saturday. In the luggage a small yellow sign with the inscription «Defend Lützerath, defend 1,5» («Defends Lützerath, defended 1,5»). They rammed their message into the ground in front of the courtyard, calling for global warming to be limited to 1.5 degrees. It’s a symbolic act, in a symbolic place – one day before the general election.
“Even if this is a place full of sadness, I find it very hopeful and inspiring to see the dedication and commitment of the people who live here – who are fighting to keep these villages and who are fighting against climate and environmental degradation,” said Thunberg. “That’s what gives me hope.”
However, the Swedish environmental activist and initiator of the worldwide movement Fridays for Future warned against placing the fight against the climate crisis and the protection of the villages threatened by opencast mining in the hands of politicians alone. «We cannot solve this and the climate crisis with party politics. We need a mass mobilization of people, ”she said. “We want to urge people to help in this fight for climate and social justice.”
With a view to a CDU election campaign event on Saturday in Aachen, Luisa Neubauer said: “A few kilometers from here, Angela Merkel and Armin Laschet speak today and defend a fossil status quo that normalizes and justifies this destruction here.” But there is no justification for it. “It is unacceptable, it is unacceptable and accordingly we will not accept and accept.”
The place Lützerath, in which almost no people live, is to disappear next for coal mining at the Garzweiler opencast mine. A decision is to be made by the end of 2026 as to whether the villages of Keyenberg, Kuckum, Ober- and Unterwestrich and Berverath, which are part of the city of Erkelenz, will have to give way. Operation in the three existing opencast mines in the Rheinische Revier is to gradually expire and end in 2038 at the latest. The next raw manure period starts on October 1st.
“When we say that all villages stay, then we are not talking about houses standing still, we are talking about protecting the livelihoods on which we depend, together,” said Neubauer. “And we say that we are ready to stand between the houses and the excavators and between the foundations of life and the excavators.”
Compared to Thunberg’s appearance at the Fridays for Future demonstration in Berlin on Friday, the date in Lützerath was much shorter. Still, it is important to be here, she said. She wants to make people aware of what is happening in the village. «We have to create awareness of what is happening here. And we need people who join the fight against it. ” Civil disobedience is also a legitimate means of doing this, as long as it remains peaceful. “And we’ve seen people in this area have used this tool very effectively in many ways.”
The environmental activists also called on people outside of Lützerath to continue working for the climate after the election. “This choice will not solve the climate crisis, regardless of the outcome. It will last much longer, ”said Thunberg. “We will have to continue to mobilize and take to the streets.”
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