Germany's decision to phase out coal by 2038 lags behind citizens' timing preferences.

摘要: Coal-fired power generation is the single most important source of carbon dioxide emissions in many countries, including Germany. A government commission recently proposed to phase out coal by 2038, which implies that country will miss its 2020 climate target. Based on a representative sample German voters assessing 31,744 hypothetical policy scenarios choice experiment, we show prefer an earlier phase-out 2025. They would uphold their support for greater ambition up additional cost society €8.50 billion. Voters Rhineland and Lusatia, country's main regions, phase-out, too, although lesser extent. By demonstrating political decision-makers are more reluctant overcoming energy path dependence than voters, our analysis calls further research explaining influence particular stakeholders slowing transitions.