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BERLIN, Jan. 2 (AP) Melee broke out Monday outside a village in western Germany that is due to be razed to expand a coal mine, a plan resisted by climate activists.
Activists threw fireworks, bottles and stones at police outside the village of Luetzerath before the situation calmed down and the police retreated, German news agency dpa reported.
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Protesters had previously set up a burning barricade and one of them glued his hand to the passage.
The small village is to be demolished to expand the Garzweiler lignite mine, despite protests from environmentalists who fear millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide will be released into the atmosphere.
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Activists have been living in the abandoned homes of former residents.
The county government of Heinsberg has issued an order banning people from entering Luetzerath and authorizing police to clear the village from January 10 if they fail to leave. Officials have called for a nonviolent end to the militant occupation.
In October, the federal and regional governments – including the Environmental Green Party – and energy company RWE agreed to bring forward the phase-out of coal use in the region by eight years to 2030.
But the deal also foresees extending the life of units at two power plants that were supposed to close early until at least 2024 and razing Luetzerath to allow further mining amid concerns over Germany’s energy security following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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