Subsidies for the solar panel and windmill industry have already had a lasting aesthetic effect on the country. On both the federal and state level, we’re also seeing some of our cultural traditions evaporate.

— Ulf Poschardt, “Green Is Ugly: Style Problems Plague Clean Energy Push”, Die Welt, April 2011

At least one German commentator thinks there’s more to life than mere survival:

Germany is a world leader when it comes to green energy. But while its windmills and solar panels may be cleaning up the atmosphere, they’re also sullying the landscape.

Poschardt suggests that pushing for greater energy efficiency can have unintended consequences, up to and including the destruction of one’s cultural heritage:

Is staying happy and healthy as long as possible worth it in an ugly world? Or will old buildings disfigured by insulation material, landscapes spoiled by windmills and dull living rooms barely illuminated by energy efficient light bulbs end up being more unpleasant – and unhealthy – than polluted air?

As of now, the green zeitgeist has not made Germany any more beautiful – just more plain. The first solar power users destroyed with almost missionary fervor the houses they inherited from their parents and grandparents. With the exception of a few avant-garde architects who build exclusively for the über-rich, the solar panel roof is an architectural abomination.

Ask a proud owner of an old building about their solar “lumps,” and you will mostly hear about the wonders of self-made energy. These people have little tolerance for superficial criticism. Just like any moral zeal, the ecological furor, too, relies on internal values that accept the most awkward of packaging.

In Germany, the Green Party exercises a lot of power—and coercion:

Recent speeches and interviews by Green Party leaders offer insights into their plans for the future: speed limits, higher taxes and lots of regulations. Fans of fast cars will still be able to enjoy their rides, but not at the expense of the greater good of the people. Introduction of the planned speed limit would kill the one place where Germany is less regulated than the rest of the world, the Autobahn.

The Greens are hoping many people give up their cars altogether. Their re-education efforts – aimed at turning Germans into eternal bike riders – demonize the highway in order to glorify the bike path.

The intellectual cue givers for this planned policy shift leave no doubt about the drastic nature of the change. The government’s environmental advisory council demands nothing less than the reconstruction of civil society. [Emphasis added]

This sounds suspiciously like the energy policy “initiatives” incessantly promoted by the current American political establishment.

“Sustainability” — there’s that word again:

“We need a sustainability revolution” [according to a Green Party “scientific” adviser]. . . . [However,] [g]ood intentions alone are not enough. Beauty exists because it is treasured and preserved. That’s not the case with energy efficient light bulbs and hybrid cars, which too often are just a placebo for a pure conscience.

Poschardt’s full article is here.