Talks to form a coalition government in Germany were in deadlock on Friday morning (17 November), after negotiators separated early morning without a deal in sight. A new, last chance meeting was due at midday on Friday. But wide differences remained on migration, climate and energy and finance policies between the four parties involved in the so-called Jamaica coalition because their colors echo the Caribbean country’s flag: the center-right CDU and its Bavarian branch CSU, the liberal FDP, and the Greens. —EUobserver, 17 November 2017
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a veteran of global efforts to curb climate change, disappointed environmental campaigners Wednesday by refusing to lay down a deadline for ending her country’s use of coal. Green groups and developing countries had called on Merkel to use global climate talks in Bonn, Germany, this week to set a date for her country to phase out coal-fired power plants — as she has previously done with nuclear energy. Speaking to leaders and ministers from around the world, Merkel said there will be “hard discussions” on the issue in her upcoming talks with the Green party and the pro-business Free Democrats on forming a new government. —Associated Press, 15 November 2017
Poland is on a collision course with EU chiefs over its continued heavy use of fossil fuels, as the country prepares to receive its first shipment of US coal. —Daily Express, 16 November 2017
So much for the Sino-European climate bromance. Developing countries are returning to the idea that wealthy countries should bear more of the emissions cuts. —Politico, 16 November 2017
A new white paper from the “Full Cost of Electricity” research programme at the University of Texas at Austin provides valuable empirical information on the scale and character of Federal government subsidies and other support mechanisms to electricity generators in the United States. The study reveals that levels of support per unit of renewable electricity have been very high relative to support for fossil-fuelled MWh, but are now declining, a trend that began as long ago as 2013. —GWPF Energy, 15 November 2017
I just wish these Green nuts would just Get A Life and quit acting like a chicken with its head cut off the same for the Useless Nations