Madison Meeks – Opinion Editor

mvm7037@psu.edu

Greta Thunberg, a Swedish climate activist, was briefly detained by police in Germany on Tuesday at a protest. The protest was over a controversial expansion of coal mines in western Germany. The expansion of this coal mine has become a large debate in Germany. 

Protests took place in a small village called Lutzerath, which is slated to be cleared and demolished to make way for the coal mine expansion. The protest has been enormous since Saturday, January 14 causing around 15,000 people to be there in support. 

According to NPR, “That included Thunberg, 20, who has been among the world’s most prominent climate protesters since she addressed the 2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference as a teenager.” NPR also stated that Thunberg had traveled to Germany to join the protest at Lutzerath. On Tuesday, Thunberg was one of many protesters to be detained by police after reaching the edge of the mine. Thunberg was then released shortly after being detained.

According to NPR, the coal mine, called the Garzweiler mine, is “one of three massive open-pit coal mines in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.” Also stated by NPR is that these types of coal mines produce 20 percent of Germany’s carbon emissions. 

The three massive open-pit coal mines have been expanding for decades. Villages had to be demolished and vacated for these to expand. The coal mine in Lutzerath has been a point of focus for protest since it was approved by a court for its demolition. “A court ruling last week cleared the way for the squatters to be evicted and the hamlet to be destroyed. The demonstrations have since grown in size and contentiousness, with clashes between police and protesters in recent days” as expressed by NPR.

 Climate activists are raising their concerns and protesting the recent expansion of the coal mines due to the rise in greenhouse gas emissions and that the expansions of the coal mines are going to cause more greenhouse gas emissions. Climate activists have been protesting nearly daily over the demolishment of villages to expand coal mines which led to some being detained for a short period.