Caught in the Lock-In? The Lützerath Decision and the Persistence of Fossil Fuel Hegemony in Germany

Sammanfattning: In 2022 the Russian invasion in Ukraine marked a turning point for global politics. To loosen dependency on Russian gas, the German government came to an agreement with the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the energy company RWE. They decided to extend the lifespan of two lignite-powered plants while simultaneously accelerating the phasing out of coal from 2038 to 2030. However, this decision required the destruction of Lützerath, a village located in the planned lignite mining area. It is therefore referred to as the Lützerath decision. It drew massive criticism from climate movements, scientists and thousands of individuals, who claimed that this decision marks the end of the Paris Agreement, is a reinvestment in coal and a betrayal of future generations. The responsible politicians justified their decision and countered the protestors claims, arguing for a success for climate protection. The decision went ahead and Lützerath was evicted and destroyed in January 2023. This study has performed a Critical Discourse Analysis of speeches, interviews and press statements by key German political decision makers involved in order to investigate how the Lützerath decision was argued for, and in what ways the Lützerath discourse contributed to a hegemonic position of the fossil fuel sector in Germany. The results identified two main narratives: (1) the narrative of an unambiguous necessity of the coal underneath Lützerath as an instrument to withstand the energy crisis triggered by the Russian invasion; and (2) the narrative of the Lützerath decision as a big success for climate protection. Overall, I argue that the Lützerath decision has reinforced the hegemonic position of the fossil fuel industry and that the Lützerath decision has perpetuated carbon lock-ins in multiple ways. I concluded that the political discourse surrounding the Lützerath decision marks a instance for contemporary fossil fuel hegemony in Germany and stands in contrast to the urgent need for climate protection.