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Article: Pass the candle. (East Germany's energy crunch)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- June 23, 1990
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1990 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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BONN ALTHUGH East Germany may be on the road to an economic miracle, in the meantime it faces an energy debacle. East Germans cheering the coming of hard Dmarks as part of German economic and monetary union on july 1st are set to freeze through even-worse-than-usual power cuts during the next winter or two.
For decades East Germany has relied on dirty brown coal to provide 70% of its primary energy needs and 85% of its electricity. Environmental problems were brushed aside by the country's former communist rulers, who were determined to exploit East Germany's only significant energy resource. That exploitation left vast lunar-like landscapes caused by excavators ...