Having agreed that the 2020 CO2 emission cuts promised under the Paris Agreement are not achievable, the might-be German government has tentatively committed to even less realistic promises for 2030. This is political posturing as usual. When you can’t do something now, promise the impossible later.

The silliest promise at this point is that Germany will get 65% of its electricity from renewables in just 12 years. It presently gets just about 32%, so this would be a huge jump.

It is actually quite a bit more than a doubling, for two reasons. First, thanks to a strong economy the use of electricity is also growing strongly. Thus the promised 65% is of a bigger number than the present 32%.

Then too, a good fraction of the present 32% is from wood burning, which also produces CO2. So if the promised increase is to come just from wind and solar sources, it is more like a four-fold increase than a doubling. Doing this, or anything like it, in just 12 years is virtually impossible.

There is also promised a massive overall cut in CO2 emissions, which is certainly impossible because it would have to mostly come from the transportation sector. People have to drive and fly, and stuff has to move by truck and train.

Mind you the greens want to phase out the internal combustion engine, but that cannot possibly be done in 12 years. For that matter, shifting the transportation sector to electric power merely moves where the energy comes from, potentially doubling the need for electricity or more.. Properly understood, the numbers are simply prohibitive. You can’t get there from here.

But this is not even the German Government talking. It is just some wishful thinking from a marathon all night meeting of three parties who might or might not form the next actual Government.

The past, and still acting, Government of Germany has actually been a coalition of three distinct political parties. Following disastrous elections in September, these three are now somewhat reluctantly trying to form a new Government. It is by no means assured that this effort will succeed, so these wild 2030 climate promises are just talk at this point, headline fodder.

The wild card in this coalition game is the socialists. Their membership is reluctant to join with the two parties backing Chancellor Angela Merkel and this issue may not be decided for several months yet.

We would all be better off if the socialists stayed out for that matter. Their leader has called President Trump a “dictator,” saying “We are living in the world of (U.S. President Donald) Trump, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, (Turkish President Tayyip) Erdogan. We live in a world of dictators who make the world’s breath pause with their crazed ideas …”

These German socialists clearly have no understanding of the American Government. Their participation in the German Government to date has created many of Germany’s present problems. Here’s hoping for a saner Germany.