RWE owns the forest and is legally allowed to cut down trees to access the brown coal, or lignite, in the ground during the annual logging season. Their protest has taken on fresh urgency as Germany is charting an exit from coal energy to combat climate change. A government-appointed coal committee is due to announce an end date for the industry by the end of the year. Germany has massively expanded renewable energy in recent years as part of a transition away from fossil fuels. But the country remains heavily reliant on coal, partly to offset Chancellor Angela Merkel's 2011 decision to phase out nuclear power by 2022.

Source: The Local September 16, 2018 11:26 UTC