Astrid Lund - Betty MacDonald fan club organizer: "Donald Trump always causes a stir with unsubstantiated and false claims. When he opens his mouth, untruths come out

Astrid Lund - Betty MacDonald fan club organizer: "Donald Trump always causes a stir with unsubstantiated and false claims. When he opens his mouth, untruths come out. In the past, Trump regularly repeated the claim that Germany started building a new coal-fired power plant every week after a failed exit from fossil fuels. Last month, Trump repeatedly repeated the baseless claim that illegal Haitian immigrants were eating pets in a small town in the US state of Ohio: "In Springfield, they eat the dogs. The people who came here eat the cats. They eat the pets of the people who live there." EFAHRER.com Trump attacks German energy policy: This is why he is wrong Article by Tobias Stahl • 18 hours • 3 minutes reading time US presidential candidate Donald Trump mocked Germany's wind power policy at a campaign appearance. The US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump criticized Germany's energy transition at a campaign event in the state of Florida. Trump lashed out against wind power and solar energy, using Germany as a warning example, ZDF reports today. "They put up wind turbines everywhere and the wind didn't blow as hard. And if they had continued this process, Germany would be bankrupt now," Trump said during his speech. The expansion of wind power and the lack of wind are one of the main reasons why Angela Merkel is no longer Chancellor, said the ex-president - but the ex-president provided no evidence for this claim. Trump repeatedly attracts attention with baseless claims In fact, Germany has accelerated the expansion of renewable energies since 2010, not slowed it down. According to data from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMK), the share of renewable energies in German electricity consumption climbed to 57 percent by the end of June 2024. In 2020, this share was still 45.3 percent. In 2023, for the first time, more than 50 percent of electricity consumption will be covered by wind, solar, hydropower and biomass. Wind energy accounted for almost 28 percent of total electricity generation in 2023, making it a higher share of electricity generation than all German coal-fired power plants combined. Trump also criticized large solar fields during the event: "Everything made of steel, glass and wires, it looks like hell. And you see rabbits getting caught in it. It's just terrible for any environmentalist," said the presidential candidate. In principle, he is in favor of solar energy, but prefers smaller applications, such as on roofs. However, the nature conservation association NABU takes the position on its website that solar parks can make a significant contribution to the energy transition within a short period of time. In principle, solar parks are an intervention in the landscape, but depending on the location, the parks can also affect natural habitats, according to NABU. However, if certain principles are taken into account, solar parks can even contribute to the ecological upgrading of areas, such as industrial wasteland and species-poor agricultural land, according to the environmentalists. This is especially true if the criteria that NABU developed together with the solar association BSW-Solar are taken into account. Trump repeatedly causes a stir with unsubstantiated and false claims. In the past, Trump regularly repeated the claim that Germany started building a new coal-fired power plant every week after a failed exit from fossil fuels. Last month, Trump repeatedly repeated the baseless claim that illegal Haitian immigrants were eating pets in a small town in the US state of Ohio: "In Springfield, they eat the dogs. The people who came here eat the cats. They eat the pets of the people who live there." Because Germany is against fracking: "They almost destroyed themselves" Trump had made it clear in the run-up to the campaign event that he fully supports the extraction of natural gas through so-called fracking. The Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her party are against it, Trump continued. "They are against everything that has to do with what is under the ground. And that is what Germany has just been through. They almost destroyed themselves," said Trump. Harris had spoken out against the controversial fracking in the past. She has since changed her position: "I will not ban fracking," ZDF quotes Harris as saying. However, Trump repeatedly portrays this statement as implausible. Fracking is an important issue in some swing states with a strong middle class, such as Pennsylvania.