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Over 3,000 illegally dumped wind turbine blades – a waste scandal escalates in Texas
A massive waste disposal problem from the wind industry has escalated in the city of Sweetwater in Nolan County, Texas. In February, Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Global Fiberglass Solutions and affiliated companies. According to authorities, more than 3,000 wind turbine blades, along with other materials from decommissioned turbines, were stored on…
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Employers’ association Gesamtmetall warns of a potential loss of 150,000 jobs this year
Germany’s metal and electrical engineering industries face further massive job losses in 2026. The employers’ association Gesamtmetall anticipates the loss of up to 150,000 jobs this year. The warning stems from the ongoing crisis in the sector, which shows no signs of abating despite a significant increase in orders in the last quarter of 2025.…
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Reinhardswald wind farm – new transport route for rotor blades necessitates further interventions in nature
In the Hofgeismar district, the Reinhardswald wind farm project faces another major intervention in nature and infrastructure. The transport of the 75-meter-long rotor blades will now take place via a newly established route to the forest near Gottsbüren, as the originally planned delivery route is no longer accessible for heavy transport due to the reduced…
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Wind turbines near residential areas cause massive loss in value for property owners
In Germany, the expansion of wind farms near residential areas has been exacerbating the conflict surrounding the energy transition for years, because new installations generate noise, alter the landscape, and cause a significant drop in property value for many homes. A study by the RWI Leibniz Institute for Economic Research, based on 2.7 million real…
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Works council election at Tesla in Grünheide – IG Metall loses massive support
The IG Metall union suffered a major setback in the works council election at Tesla in Grünheide, Oder-Spree district, losing significant support among the workforce. Voting took place from Monday to Wednesday of last week at the Gigafactory. According to preliminary results, the “Giga United” list, led by incumbent works council chairwoman Michaela Schmitz, won…
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TotalEnergies is considering selling its charging parks in Germany – BayWa is withdrawing completely
TotalEnergies is considering selling its charging infrastructure division in Germany. BayWa has already officially confirmed the sale of its electric vehicle charging station business as part of a multi-year restructuring. TotalEnergies has a portfolio of approximately 190 charging parks up for sale, of which only about a third are currently operational. The package includes subsidies…
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SMR reactors as a brake on electricity prices – government argues over nuclear option
In early March 2026, an energy policy conflict intensified in Berlin as Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Katherina Reiche pushed forward a grid package to reorganize electricity grid usage while simultaneously examining SMR reactors as an option for more stable electricity prices. Environment Minister Carsten Schneider immediately objected, however, after BUND Chairman Olaf Brandt criticized…
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A local power outage in Aachen paralyzed authorities across North Rhine-Westphalia
On the evening of March 2, 2026, a power outage occurred in Aachen. The outage affected a data center belonging to the municipal IT service provider regio iT. Many authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia lost access to their central IT systems as a result. The critical risk factor lay in the shared dependence of numerous municipalities…
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Federal Statistical Office: Germans have lost considerable purchasing power in the last five years
Germany experienced a noticeable loss of purchasing power between 2020 and 2025 because prices rose significantly faster than incomes. The Federal Statistical Office published new analyses on this topic, which were commissioned by the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW). The period under review thus encompasses the years since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Inflation averaged…
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Car thefts in Germany are on the rise – perpetrators avoid electric cars and primarily steal combustion engine vehicles
Car thefts in Germany increased again in 2023, but electric cars remain the exception for most perpetrators: The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) recorded 15,924 permanently stolen passenger cars in its “Federal Situation Report on Motor Vehicle Crime 2023,” nine percent more than in the previous year. Organized groups often transport many vehicles abroad on…
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No rescue for Eterna – headquarters in Passau will be liquidated
The insolvent shirt and blouse manufacturer Eterna will cease operations at its headquarters in Passau by summer 2026. The company filed for insolvency last December and subsequently sought a buyer. However, no investor was found in the following months willing to take over Eterna completely. This marks the definitive end of the rescue attempt. Management…
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The dream of cheap green electricity is shattered by the system’s calculations
Germany is facing a critical energy policy situation. Despite constant political promises, the dream of lower electricity prices through the expansion of renewable energy is not materializing. Instead of relief, costs are rising because weather-dependent feed-in is impacting a grid that is expanding too slowly. The immediate cause lies in the strong fluctuations in wind…
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Heat pumps – when maintenance costs eat up the cost advantage
Consumer advice centers are receiving increasing reports of sharply rising maintenance costs for new heat pumps. Maintenance costs are sometimes exceeding €630 (gross). This is particularly concerning because specialist companies often present this service as a prerequisite for manufacturer-provided services, for example, stating: “The manufacturer insists on annual maintenance of the system to maintain the…
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Environmental action leaders want to stop the sale of combustion engine vehicles by court order
The Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe heard appeals in climate lawsuits brought by the German Environmental Aid Association (DUH) against BMW and Mercedes. Three managing directors of the DUH are suing as private individuals, claiming that their personal rights are violated by emissions. However, their application seeks a court-ordered ban. They demand that both…
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Because almost no one adheres to it – the Hanover Region lifts the 30 km/h speed limit in Gehrden again
In Gehrden, in the Hanover region, a pilot project for a 30 km/h speed limit on a main road through the town ended on March 1st after an evaluation concluded that the measure did not achieve the expected results. The primary reason for the decision was that many drivers ignored the speed limit. The project…