The Green party's problem isn't its radicals...

...it's the ones who think they are states(wo)men

Photo by Iryna Marienko on Unsplash

Dear Reader,

I want to begin with a couple of illuminating appendages to last week’s newsletter on the chaos caused by incompetent politicians thinking they have the gift of prophecy.

Back in 2019, the district of Taunus announced it was investing in “the largest fleet of hydrogen trains in the world” as it forged ahead with plans to cut carbon emissions on its rail system. The plan, estimated to have cost half a billion euros, received funding from both the federal government and the state executive in Hesse.

“Water vapour instead of diesel soot, what an exciting approach,” enthused state transport minister Tarek Al-Wazir (Greens), adding that the main advantage was that the technology “can be implemented quickly.”

Well, quickly is a relative concept.

The order of 27 trains was hit by immediate construction delays, with French manufacturer Alstom delivering just six on time. As soon as they were in operation the problems started. Within weeks, the region…