June 15, 2006

CFACT Europe's Dr. Thuss
juices up lively panel discussion on energy

At the invitation of the Wirtschaftsrat, a German entrepreneur's association, CFACT Europe Executive Director Dr. Holger Thuss recently had the high honor of participating in an important public workshop dealing with future energy policies in the state of Thuringia. Other noteworthy speakers on 14 June 2006 included Dr. Michael Lippert, former Deputy Minister, and energy expert Juergen Aust. The panel was presented by radio host Fagus Pauly.

While other speakers dealt with the legal and technical aspects of energy production and supply, Dr. Thuss focused on the political dimensions of producing, trading and consuming energy as it pertains to various sectors of industry, the environment, and the public.

During his presentation he urged lawmakers and politicians to get back to rational decision-making: "So far, there is no clear policy on these extremely important issues on the side of the politicians" said Dr. Thuss, "everybody, including the current government, is in favor of reconciling economy and ecology, but nobody seems to know what will be the implications of such a merger if not carefully crafted."

"On the one hand, there is a lot of criticism that high energy prices kill jobs. On the other hand, a coalition of politicians, green activists and lawmakers is very creative in inventing new subsidies and energy taxes whose net impact is to drive energy prices through the roof." According to Dr. Thuss, without industry and economic growth society will not fully enjoy the benefits of a high standard of environmental protection. "Sustainable development only makes sense if it serves both the people and the environment surrounding them," he added, "people would simply continue to migrate to other regions and the environment would be less of a public priority if economic stagnation continued in the region."

In a very lively debate after his presentation, Dr. Thuss repeatedly pointed out that high energy prices and exaggerated precautionary measures to protect the environment are not only lethal to energy intensive productions, but also to the industrial base and ecology as a whole. "Sadly a significant portion of the environmental movement seems bent on pursuing dreams of an entirely de-industrialized world, and any effort to destabilize energy production moves us forward in that tragic direction. CFACT Europe believes in a more positive vision of plentiful energy, low taxes and higher economic growth that benefits both people and nature alike," he concluded.