No more hot water in local schools – that was only one drastic measure announced by Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter reported on July 28 of this year by "nordbayern.de" in a revealing analysis of what was about to come in an article entitled "Due to energy crisis first German city leaves showers cold" ("Wegen Energiekrise: Erste Deutsche Großstadt läßt die Duschen kalt" in German). Was the German public in a state of shock, or wasn't it? We will return to this question further below.
Many more such measures were communicated by town hall and regional and national governments alike. Think Hannover: Only cold showers at public pools and sports or gymnastics halls, and no outside lighting on public buildings at night. Indoor temperatures for public buildings or offices are reduced to a maximum of 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit). In Munich, for example, this figure was supposed to stand at a mere 19 degrees Celsius.
Hence, elected officeholders somehow did set trends by declaring a reduction of at least 15% in energy consumption as their goal. Yet, individual citizens were asked to engage in similar efforts leading to a combination of amusement and anger amongst the electorate. As a case in point: Green Party politician and Minister-President of federal state Baden Württemberg Winfried Kretschmann suggested energy will be saved if people shower less – refraining from giving precise numbers though – but then continued his advice by saying that "the washcloth is also a useful invention," widely quoted for example in "Merkur.de" on Oct. 17 of this year.
No one argues that an energy crisis is not unfolding in Europe due to supply chain troubles resulting from the war situation in Ukraine and frozen relations between European Union capitals and Moscow. But there is more to that: Whilst saving energy is a worthwhile undertaking no matter the state of global affairs, the key issue at stake is whether governments could have done more to prevent the current shortage by diversifying suppliers long ago instead of becoming overly dependent on one or two major players in the field of energy, in particular gas.
In other words, even before the invasion of Ukraine, foresight analysis should have become the order of the (political) day as many potential crises were looming on the horizon anyways – think the threat of sanctions from across the North Atlantic with a view to Germany going ahead with pipelines one day filled with Russian gas or principal disagreements about this or that subject in the global policymaking arena.
All this led to the most bizarre U-turns, where Germany’s government first announcing exiting from coal as an energy source then declaring perhaps maybe they better not, or considering leaving nuclear energy completely behind and then speaking up in favor of returning to that very same energy source. A quite considerable array of "ifs and buts" to put it discreetly.
And now, the electorate is faced with a choice of coming to their government’s rescue by either dramatically altering their personal habits or by simply shrugging it all off. Yet, the latter solution is no more an option as there is one point that especially causes concern: If schools no longer turn on the warm or hot water for their sinks and children can no longer adequately cleanse their hands, the entire pandemic public relations campaign is turned upside down. We recall that its key message was that the best way to stop spreading the virus is to thoroughly wash your hands with warm or hot water many times a day, but most definitely not with cold water! With recent energy-saving measures, this very laudable past advice is today considered a bad joke by a growing number of citizens.
This skepticism vis-à-vis government "suggestions" in turn opens the floodgates to extremist political circles who plan to use the government’s responses as an excuse to promote their far-right or far-left agendas, camouflaging xenophobia and racism by stirring up antiestablishment notions amongst members of the public arguing the way the pandemic was handled was totally wrong. A very dangerous path, very serious indeed for keeping a harmonious balance within a multicultural society – here the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) springs to mind, a true master in "camouflaging" its far-right motives.
Elsewhere, town hall shines in bright lights
From where this contribution is penned, our local town hall recently moved into their brand-new premises. In front of the building is a public park leading to the waterfront. It is well-lit from early evening through the night so as to make sure citizens feel safe after working hours to meet and mingle with a hot tea bought from one of the many street vendors or to have a picnic on the lawn during warmer months. As a well-frequented bus stop and taxi rank are at the end of the green many single travelers pass through the area, and although crime is all but not existing, young people, single women and the elderly in particular simply feel more comfortable being in the light, and not in the dark, so to speak.
Where are we? In Türkiye. No need to give away the exact place name, as to be fair we would need to compile a list of hundreds, or rather thousands of municipalities doing just the same: Living in the knowledge that there is a global energy shortage phenomenon but that clever policymaking easily allows for keeping your citizens warm as before, allowing for perfect hygiene standards at schools and sports centers and anywhere else, and to allow residents to feel safe at night due to the adequate street and coach stop lighting.
At the same time, hikes in global energy prices do not go unnoticed over here. Naturally, utilities such as gas and electricity have gotten more expensive making it difficult, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to cope.
In this context, analysts and business advisers have exactly two options: To tell their clients to complain, resign in despair and shut down shop, or to increase manufacturing and other output by using the same levels of energy consumption and thus increase turnover and being able to offset the rising energy bills. Exactly the second option is employed in Türkiye and current growth forecasts including "an up" in exports as well as an increase in domestic consumption mirror this rather logical development.
Besides, Türkiye managed to become probably the world’s most respected and vital intermediary between the warring factions related to the war in Ukraine and very early in the day achieved a guaranteed constant energy supply in sufficient volumes not only for the past hot summer but for the just beginning naturally cold winter with snow and freezing temperatures, as anywhere else in Europe, kicking in shortly if not already with us.
This article is not intended as a finger-pointer in a sense of everything in parts of Europe is bad, of course not; as written above, an energy crisis of global proportions is hitting home no matter where on our shared planet. What this article is all about is something different.
Saving energy means saving our planet for our children. But, saving energy should not be confused with unilaterally deciding that individual citizens, figuratively speaking, have to pay the price for failed energy and other policies exercised by our governments. Belittling adults by saying the washcloth is as good as having a hot shower is a silly joke at best.
Investing in wind and solar energy, constructing so-called Passive Houses with better insulation, diversifying dependencies from having just one or two major energy suppliers, indeed asking the public to help reduce consumption by not keeping all lights on 24/7 but only in those rooms actually occupied, switching off and unplugging electric devices when not in use and so on and so forth – energy at home can easily be reduced without compromising on one's health or well-being. However, governments ill-fatedly lecturing their electorate will only result in the following: a rise in camouflaged antigovernment sentiments as outlined earlier on in this contribution.