By Jack Dini ——Bio and Archives--February 14, 2024

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Something rather amazing is happening across Western Europe, although American media outlets would like to pretend that nothing is happening. The sea change is that ordinary people are pushing back against green policies that will destroy farming and also the food supply. (1)

The farmers protests began last year in the Netherlands, when the government announced that it intended to cut livestock farming by 30 percent to prevent greenhouse gases. Because these policies are not limited to the Netherlands but have spread across Europe, the same farmer protests are now in other European nations.

Brussels removed the order on reduced emissions linked to agriculture after mounting anger across Europe. The European Union has caved in to angry protests from farmers and cut a target to slash agriculture emissions as part of the bloc's net zero drive. A demand to reduce nitrogen, methane and other emissions linked to farming by almost a third has been removed from a wider Brussels plan to cut greenhouse gs emissions by 90 percent by 2040. (2)

In spite of the above, Germany is currently in recession and the economic outlook is anything but positive. The economic upturn through the green transformation promised by Chancellor Olaf Scholz is unlikely to materialize in 2024. The Financial Times reported: "Germany was the worst performing major economy in the world last year." (3)

One of the factors exacerbating this recession is the high energy prices caused by green policies. They are causing companies to relocate their business abroad or even temporarily shut down their production facilities.

Some examples: Construction equipment manufacturer Liebherr is putting 1,000 employees on short time working for 9 months. Stiehl, Gardena, and Hansgrohe are 'opting for short time working and job cuts.' Other famous German companies planning cuts include textile group Groz-Beckert and chainsaw manufacturer Stihl.

Leverkusen-based pharmaceutical and agrochemical group Bayer plan massive job cuts. Another victim of Germany's green policies is renowned iron foundry and automotive supplier Eisenwerk Hasenclever & Sohn. Despite a proud history of 250 years the firm has now filed for insolvency. Machinery builder Hornag has announced that it will cut some 600 jobs worldwide. (4)

Not only politicians, but also companies are starting to get hysterical when it comes to climate. There are now drastic wage cuts if employees drive or eat meat. The soccer club Vfl Osnabruck calculates on how much salary to deduct based on things like how far its employees travel to work and how much meat they consume. However, in the current environment of a skilled workers shortage, other companies........

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