A simmering dispute erupts between the energy and environmental protection ministries over the need for new natural gas-fired power plants, with Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz accusing a senior Environmental Protection Ministry official of populist behavior.
The spat takes place after Gil Proaktor, head of Climate Change Policy at the Environmental Protection Ministry, tells the Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee that were the government to treat climate change with the same urgency as the coronavirus, it would stop building “white elephant” power stations based on gas — a fossil fuel – that will still be operating in 2050, when much of the developed world will have already moved to 100 percent electricity from renewable sources.
Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz at the Knesset in Jerusalem on May 29, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
“Nobody intends to establish a single [gas] power station that’s not needed, but show me one country in the world that depends for 40% of its energy on the sun, even 30%,” shouts Steinitz, who is aiming for 30% renewables by the end of the decade.
“We’re taking a huge risk here, you should be ashamed of yourself. A government has to be responsible, not populist!”
— Sue Surkes
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
