Merkel Reduces Germany's Carbon Footprint: OR: Russia gets what it wants

Dan, of TDAXP, has developed a useful E.U.-speak to English translation algorithm. It works like this: when ever an E.U. country talks of "global warming" just assume they mean "Russia".

And so it was with great interest that I read a story today, about one of the side effects of Angela Merkel's reelection. Germany will be keeping its nuclear program alive and kicking.

Ostensibly, Germany wants to have a means of creating clean energy without resorting to less reliable "alternative" energies such as wind and solar. Of course that clean energy mean less reliance on Russian gas:

Had the Social Democrats prevailed, the nation could have become much more dependent on Russian natural gas and the political baggage which has emerged as a cost of doing business with Gazprom, which has become an unpredictable supplier. In January 2009, the Russians cut off natural gas exports to a dozen European nations, including Germany, in a political dispute with the Ukraine. The Russians accused western European nations of siding with the Ukraine.

But Germany's nuclear program is important for another reason. I've recently predicted that several countries in Europe, espeically Poland and the Czech republic, may soon reach for some strategic ambiguity WRT nuclear weapons. To that end, Germany's nuclear program is notable because it is considered so advanced as to make Germany a de facto nuclear state.

Germany has yet to weaponize, but could probably do so fairly quickly. Perhaps more importantly, they could choose to share their nuclear technology with neighbors such as Poland, the Baltic state and the Czech republic, any one of which may take the leap.

Russia, this is what you wanted.