Against the backdrop of recent events, a nationwide debate about the rising cost of electricity and its causes is gradually beginning to unfold. I would like to outline its broader background
The statements saying that the rise in energy prices is the EU’s fault are reminiscent of the indignation of a pupil who was lazy and disruptive from autumn to summer and when he is threatened with repeat grades, he starts saying that it was the teacher who had it in for him.
And to be clear: we are not talking about the negligence of the past five years, but at least fifteen or even thirty years. We have done almost nothing to modernise our energy system or to make it more economical and low emission. Even though the EU itself has been giving us clear signals that this is needed.
We have the highest percentage of coal power use in the European Union. We have one of the highest levels of carbon dioxide emissions at 750g CO2/kWh. We have blocked the development of wind power, we have no nuclear power plants, and until recently, we poured all available money into coal-fired production facilities.
Oh, and to top it all off: we don’t have coal either, we have to buy it from abroad. Our own coal is not just expensive, but also of low quality. But we spend billions of zloty on this coal, which is supposed to be spent on energy modernization.
Climate policy is politics too; it gives countries a competitive and strategic edge. Poland totally ignored those opportunities. And now we are only witnessing the result.
Jakob Wech, Poland