"Germany's coal phaseout: The last farmer standing", 10. January 2022

Lützerath, in western Germany, is set to disappear for the sake of brown coal mining. All 90 residents have been relocated. Only one, Eckardt Heukamp, vows to stay.

Heukamp's farm stands in sight of the excavators of Garzweiler's opencast mine. But the fourth-generation farmer doesn't want to sell up. "I want to live here — this is my home," the 57-year-old said.

Sixteen years ago, RWE began tearing down farms and houses in Lützerath to mine brown coal. Residents in the small, western German village received compensation and most of those affected have found a new home a few kilometers west. At the end of 2020, there were 14 residents left. Heukamp is the last person standing in what's now a ghost town. He's doing everything possible to oppose resettlement. A Higher Administrative Court in Münster will rule on his lawsuit against expropriation in a matter of weeks.

Heukamp's fight against RWE becomes a political issue

The story of Lützerath is about much more than demolishing an 18th-century farm. Heukamp's opposition has long since become a political issue, revolving around a huge question: How serious is Germany about its coal phaseout? If the new government really wants to wind down coal-fueled energy by 2030 — instead of by 2038 as planned by the previous government — how much sense does it make to dismantle Heukamp's farm, even if the decision is legally sound? [...]

A study by the German Institute for Economic Research also suggests that Lützerath should remain untouched if Germany wants to meet the target of the Paris climate agreement and limit global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius (2.7 F). [...]

"What's the point of expropriating people, tearing down villages, and dealing with higher CO2 emissions, even though we all know that this is no longer acceptable given the alternatives that are available?" he asked.

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Help from activists

Heukamp is no longer fighting alone. Since authorities removed environmental activists from nearby Hambach Forest in 2018, Lützerath has become the new place of pilgrimage for Germany's climate protection movement.

Dozens of young activists cavort on Heukamp's premises. His farm is adorned with a huge yellow poster that reads: "1.5 degrees means: Lützerath stays". Tree houses with colorful anti-coal posters tower like huge nests in the treetops. Even Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was here in September 2021.

Energy giant RWE insists on its rights

Will Lützerath become a second Hambach Forest for RWE, as activists hope? Two years ago, with the decision to phase out coal-fueled energy, the German government decided to preserve the woodland. Years of massive protests by the climate protection movement preceded the decision. The deal at the time, however, stipulated that Hambach Forest can stay, but RWE is allowed to mine brown coal in the Rhineland lignite mining area. For RWE, that's some 900 million tons of brown coal. And a lot of money.

"The decision by the North-Rhine Westphalia state government in March explicitly allows for excavation in this southern part of the area," RWE press spokesman Guido Steffen wrote in response to questions from DW. With regard to Heukamp, Steffen said RWE was ​​"still trying to find an amicable solution."

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