“The arrogance of VW and RWE” – commentary

Many companies in Germany have understood that a more sustainable way of making business will dominate the economy of the future, Green politician Julia Verlinden writes in a guest commentarty in the Frankfurter Rundschau. But some of the country’s largest companies would rather “turn back time to the last millennium” and continue to make huge profits on the expense of the environment and everyone else in society, she adds. “Their arrogance is at least as repulsive as their ignorance,” Verlinden says, arguing that big companies like carmaker VW or energy heavyweight RWE use their influence over jobs and tax returns to put pressure on politicians to do the companies’ bidding. Global warming or air pollution do not seem to play a role or lead to a change of attitude, which is “an insult to customers” and to future generations, Verlinden says, adding that “the time for this sort of business philosophy is now over” as many citizens no longer accepted this level of irresponsibility.

Read the commentary in German here.

For background, read the CLEW article German court stops controversial clearing of forest for lignite mine.