DÜSSELDORF/BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - There is a rumbling at the Green party base: An open letter against the evacuation of the village of Lützerath for lignite mining had been signed by more than 2,000 Green party members by Friday morning. In it, NRW Economics Minister Mona Neubaur and Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (both Greens) are called upon to stop the eviction of Lützerath immediately.

"Green core values not betrayed: Lützerath must stay" is the title of the letter. As Green members, they could neither understand nor accept the eviction of the village of Lützerath.

The "negotiated deal with the energy company RWE threatens to break with the principles of our party," it continues. "And not only that, we are also breaking with the Paris climate agreement, the traffic light coalition agreement and the last trust of the climate justice movement."

Mining the coal under Lützerath, he said, means burning another 280 million tons of coal. Germany's CO2 budget, however, only allows for 47 million tons. This, he said, makes it clear that Germany will exceed the 1.5-degree limit.

There are now serious doubts about the expert reports on which the deal with RWE is based. In the meantime, other studies have proven that the coal under Lützerath is not needed to ensure energy security in Germany.

The early coal phase-out in 2030 would not be a success if the amount of coal was not limited, he said. "We don't understand how we, as an anti-coal party, can allow people to still be forced out of their homes for coal in 2023 in the middle of the climate crisis."

For technical reasons, the open letter appears on the Green Party homepage as a motion, but it is only an open letter, said co-initiator Elina Schumacher when asked./fc/DP/jha