Police start clearing German village condemned for coal mine

LUETZERATH, Germany — Police in riot gear began evicting climate activists Wednesday from a condemned village in western Germany that is due to be demolished for the expansion of a coal mine. Schumann said she still held out hope of preserving what’s left of Luetzerath “until nothing is left standing; hope dies last.” Environmentalists say bulldozing the village to expand the nearby Garzweiler coal mine would result in huge amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. Climate campaigners counter that expanding a massive open-cast coal mine goes against Germany’s international commitments to reduce emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases. “We know that the coal under Luetzerath isn’t needed for energy security — it must remain in the ground so that we can achieve climate justice.” “Now we can do something against the climate catastrophe, but at some point we won’t be able to any more,” Thevasagayam said.