{news} Fw: USGP-INT BBC News: Has the Green dream wilted?

[Justine McCabe]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Feinstein" <mfeinstein at feinstein.org>
To: <usgp-int at gp-us.org>
Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2005 9:51 AM
Subject: USGP-INT BBC News: Has the Green dream wilted?


> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4335238.stm
>
>  Has the Green dream wilted?
> Sam Wilson, BBC News
> 10/13/05
>
> Only half a decade ago the future of Europe looked greener than ever 
> before.
>
> Green parties were part of the governments of five European countries, 
> pushing the environment closer to the forefront of policy-making.
>
> "Some had the impression that a luminous sunflower was hanging in the grey 
> sky," wrote Juan Behrend, the former secretary general of the Green 
> federation in the European parliament.
>
> But that era is now over.
>
> With the cementing of a grand coalition in Germany this week, Greens have 
> lost their last toehold in western European government, and their most 
> recognisable figure, former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, is 
> out of office.
>
> And this at a time, says Mr Behrend, when "the current climate is asking 
> for Green politics".
>
> Having been ejected from government in Finland, France, Italy, Belgium and 
> now Germany, it would be no surprise if the Greens' optimism, like the 
> imaginary sunflower, had wilted.
>
> "These are setbacks, clearly, in every case. Greens are not now shaping 
> policy," says Hubert Kleinert, once a German Green MP, now a political 
> scientist.
>
>  "During the last five years there have been more defeats than victories. 
> And I think this [German result] is the biggest one."
>
> But Mr Behrend refuses to be downbeat.
>
> He admits the German result is "a blow", but denies it shows Green 
> politics is in decline.
>
> "Coming back to opposition is also an opportunity," he told the BBC News 
> website.
>
> He points out that the Green movement was founded in local-level activism, 
> and its grassroots are still strong.
>
> "We are expert at making opposition politics so I'm optimistic we'll be 
> able to articulate a very coherent Green policy," he says.
>
> Chris Rootes, professor of environmental politics at England's University 
> of Kent, agrees.
>
> "Being out of government may liberate them - they were always 
> uncomfortable with a party [Gerhard Schroeder's SPD] with whom they have a 
> lot of differences," he says.
>
> Divisive debate
>
>  The German Greens may have been leapfrogged by the liberal Free Democrats 
> and the new Left, but Prof Rootes points out that their share of the vote 
> fell only about 0.5%.
>
> Greens have suffered across Europe, he suggests, only because voters have 
> turned against their socialist and social democratic coalition allies "and 
> [Greens] have thus far not been willing to sustain right-wing 
> governments".
>
>  That ties their fortunes closely to the left, he says, as "it does make 
> the parties of the centre-left very dependent on the Greens".
>
> For Prof Kleinert, being out of power gives greens a chance to rethink 
> their allegiances, including the possibility of entering coalitions with 
> centre-right parties like Germany's CDU.
>
> It could be a divisive debate, as "the feeling of the Greens' leaders is 
> surely more to the middle, but the feeling of the base is more left-wing".
>
> Ideas 'entrenched'
>
> But other commentators say there is no need for Greens to panic.
>
> They are part of Romano Prodi's left-wing alliance expected to challenge 
> hard in Italy's elections next year, and are likely to form part of the 
> left-wing bloc competing in France in 2007.
>
> "Greens have shown they can be serious politicians, can hold cabinet 
> office and can be trusted, and these will count if their time comes 
> again," says Dr Neil Carter of the University of York.
>
> But what about environmental policies? With no Green ministers now at 
> cabinet tables, or at EU ministerial meetings, will there be no-one to 
> push ecological considerations?
>
> The Green Party in Germany was instrumental in forming that country's 
> policy of shutting down nuclear energy, and its huge increase in the use 
> of renewable energy. Are these achievements now at risk?
>
> Prof Rootes thinks not, as these ideas are now "entrenched" in the 
> political mainstream.
>
> Mr Behrend says that people across Europe realise the importance of 
> environmental protection, and they will not allow any political party to 
> neglect that in its policy making.
>
> "Green politics and sustainability are not just post-materialistic 
> dreams," he says. "They are hard politics that we're going to have to face 
> in the coming years."
>
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