Anti-nuclear opinion powers German Greens to record support

by Staff Writers Berlin (AFP) Sept 15, 2010 Germany's opposition Green party has soared to a record 22-percent support, according to a poll published Wednesday, thanks in part to public ire over Chancellor Angela Merkel's nuclear energy plans. The survey by the independent research group Forsa showed the Greens gaining one point over last week to come within reach of Germany's main opposition party, the Social Democrats (SPD), which tallied 24 percent, down one point.
The Greens, born 30 years ago out of the environmentalist movement, fiercely oppose the centre-right government's scheme to extend the life of Germany's atomic energy plants by several years, unveiled this month.
While in power with the SPD between 1998 and 2005, the Greens successfully championed legislation that would have mothballed all 17 of the country's nuclear reactors by around 2020.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Greens stoke backlash against Merkel's nuclear power extension (independent.co.uk)