Politics in Germany is turning ugly, as neo-nazi interests like AfD gain traction with voters, especially in parts of the country that were once part of East Germany. AfD and similar political groups are vehemently opposed to all this “green” malarkey. They look askance at electric vehicles and renewable energy, considering them to be part of a plot to enslave right thinking people. In 2023, Germany put incentives in place to promote the adoption of heat pumps, which included a ban on new gas boilers. But nothing says freedom like being able to pollute the environment any way you please, so AfD made the issue a major campaigning point and forced those rules to be watered down earlier this year. Party co-leader Alice Weidel has described wind turbines as “windmills of shame”. Heat pumps now make up about half of all new domestic heating systems in Germany. European homeowners purchased 1.16 million of them in the first half of this year. That’s up from 1.05 million sold in the first half of 2025, according to the European Heat Pump Association. Much of the increased interest in heat pumps is attributable to economics. The cost of methane and oil have skyrocketed this year, while many countries have taken steps to reduce the cost homeowners pay for electricity. Today, it makes little economic sense to buy an oil furnace or gas fired boiler if you live in Europe. In a way, that proves AfD’s point. People hate being told what they can or cannot do, but they love saving money. Perhaps AfD adherents would prefer we all go back to sleeping with our livestock in barns. If the way things used to be is best, let’s embrace retro completely. Perhaps some enterprising neo-nazis could start producing the much loved Trabant again. Back to the future! A German Transition Away From Fossil Fuels And yet, despite the rightward drift in the country, Germany has pledged to transition away from fossil fuels by 2045. On September 23, 2026, it published what it calls a “roadmap for the gradual phase out of fossil fuels.” According to the new plan, Germany intends to make renewables the source of 80 percent of the country’s electricity. To accomplish that goal, it expects to add 215 GW of solar and 12 GW of onshore wind by 2030. Germany had previously planned to stop using coal fired thermal generation by 2038, but the new plan moves that target date forward to 2035. In addition, methane emissions will be cut by 30 percent no later than 2030, which is in accordance with a global methane pledge the country signed in 2021. Andreas Sieber, head of global political strategy at 350.org, told The Guardian the plan marked a “notable shift” in making the phaseout of fossil fuels an explicit policy goal, but warned that Germany’s ministry for economic affairs and energy was also pushing intensely for greater use of gas. “The economic ministry keeps sabotaging the transition away from fossil fuels. This year has shown in the starkest terms that fossil fuel dependence is a risk for everyone as it exposes households and businesses in Germany and around the world to price shocks, volatility, and geopolitical insecurity.” €100 Billion In New Costs Sieber is correct. The latest estimate is that the war on Iran has cost Europe an additional €100 billion, as the costs of everything from oil, to methane, to fertilizer have increased sharply since the US attack on Iran began. At a meeting in Dublin this week, EU energy commissioner Dan Jørgensen told the representatives from all 27 nations they have not received “one extra molecule of gas or oil” for the extra money the war has cost them. Recently Transport and Environment petitioned the European Commission to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels in order to avoid any similar price shocks in the future. There is good news, however. Solar power has saved the EU more than €30 billion in avoided methane imports for power generation in the six months since the start of the Middle East conflict, according to SolarPower Europe. Germany’s former climate envoy, Jennifer Morgan, said the government must put more effort into electrifying transport and heating. “Accelerating the shift from coal, oil and gas to clean renewables will bolster energy independence and insulate consumers from price shocks at a critical moment,” she said. “However, a roadmap is only the starting line.” She added the strategy must be paired with a faster, more deliberate rollout of green electrification. Germany is the third major developed economy to publish such a roadmap, after France and the Netherlands. Kenya has also done so. Where Is The UK? The world is still waiting for the UK to announce its plans to quit fossil fuels. Reactionaries in that country are pushing back against any efforts to address the climate crisis. Richard Tice, a deputy leader of the Reform UK party, blithely asserted recently that when climate change brings record setting high temperatures, Britons should just accept them and move on. Asked about the recent extreme heatwaves in the UK, Tice said with a straight face, “Of course, the climate changes, but where is the evidence that net zero is going to stop it? Where is the evidence? There is no evidence. Climate change has always happened. It always will. Maybe the smarter thing to do is to adapt to it than think arrogantly that you can stop it. When it’s a bit warm, let’s enjoy it. And if it means that English wine and sparkling wine gets better and better, fantastic. That means we can take on the French — fantastic. Let’s celebrate some of these things rather than just be sort of doom and gloom about it.” Ignorance Is Rampant The biggest hurdle to the transition to a sustainable world is ignorant people who want to stamp their feet and hold their breath until they turn blue because they prefer the world as it was a century or more ago. When we take lifeguard training, we are taught to approach a drowning person from behind. That way, a person in panic mode won’t be able to drag you down with them. AfD and Reform UK and MAGA are all drowning people who will gladly endanger us all in order to realize their 15 minutes of fame. They mustn’t be allowed to destroy the environment solely to satisfy their hurt feeliings and wounded egos.