Against power plants

Conservationists demand absolute glacier protection

A transnational alliance between the Austrian, German and South Tyrolean Alpine Association and other nature conservation groups aims to strengthen the protection of the Alpine region. The aim is to prevent power plant projects and glacier marriages.

An end to power plant projects or glacier closures - these are the demands of the three Alpine associations at a joint press conference at around 24,000 meters above sea level in the Kaunertal on Thursday. The Kaunertal in particular has been in the headlines for some time now. The reason: the expansion of the power plant there into a pumped storage power plant. "The Platzertal valley is home to one of the largest, untouched moors in Austria," said Wolfgang Schnabl, President of the Austrian Alpine Association, criticizing the plans of the state-owned Tyrolean energy supplier Tiwag. The project in Ötztal must also be stopped.

Further projects must be stopped
As reported, the planned water drainage from the neighboring Ötztal valley has been put on hold and the project has been split into two parts for the time being. "We are calling for the entire project to be stopped, not just parts of it adapted," emphasized Schnabl.

The numerous ski area expansions on the local glaciers were also dealt with harshly. There is "definitely no need for new pistes and cable cars", said Schnabl. Instead, these areas need absolute glacier protection without any exceptions.