Whether or not the three remaining nuclear power plants in Germany will be finally shut down in a few months is just as irrelevant to efforts to curb climate change as is whether or not there should be a speed limit on German autobahns.
In the case of the latter, the climate effect can even be quantified quite precisely.
2.7 (Tempo 120) or six percent (Tempo 100) less CO2 emissions in the passenger car and light commercial vehicle segment correspond to a figure of one zero and several tenths after the decimal point, given that Germany accounts for two percent of global CO2 emissions .
Wissing and Kretschmann mark their territory
Nevertheless, the debate about the pros and cons of both demands does not want to be silent - and not only because, like Transport Minister Wissing (FDP) and Baden-Württemberg Prime Minister Kretschmann (Greens) are doing, to mark their own territory.
Because the "trade offs" of one or the other option are far more complex than they yield to knee-jerk anti-nuclear polemics and just as knee-jerk free-ride-for-free-citizens stubbornness.
The crises of the 21st cannot be overcome with the old German identity politics of the late 20th century.
But a lot of hot air will probably still be produced before the turn of the era has reached people's heads.