Former US Secretary of Energy and Nobel Laureate in Physics Steven Chu spoke at the public debate on the future energy supply of the Federal Republic of Germany. In his opinion, there is one main reason for the problems in otherwise economically strong Germany: Alliance 90/The Greens.
“A lot of misinformation comes from the Greens,” Chu said in an interview with the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” about the state of Germany. Many of the Greens simply lack common sense. In general, the party's attitude is “incompatible with our future reality.”
An example is the Greens' rejection of nuclear energy. The party apparently doesn't understand that people want “greater prosperity and greater energy demand” for their future. As things stand, this in turn means that there is a choice between clean nuclear energy and energy from coal-fired power plants.
Chu says Greens pursue climate goals to the exclusion of all other goals
“Do you want a prosperous economy, do you want to maintain employment and prosperity?” Chu asked. “Or do they just want to achieve their climate goals?”
In his opinion, if the Greens continued like this, there would be “an exodus of heavy industry from Germany”, which would be “catastrophic” for the German economy. That would be the natural consequence of such an unrealistic policy.
Chu served as Secretary of Energy under Obama
From 2009 to 2013, Chu served as Secretary of Energy under then-US President Barack Obama. Obama once told “Wirtschaftswoche” about that time when Chu was able to solve problems that no one else understood.
At the beginning of the environmental crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, everyone in charge of the big oil companies had no idea how to quickly close the gaping hole in the ocean floor. But Chu simply took a sheet of paper, did some calculations, and presented a solution. Back then, he simply trusted Chu in the presence of all the important businessmen and this trust paid off.
In general, as a manager it is important to always be aware that there are “smarter people” than yourself and recognize them in time to listen to them at important moments.