Last week the German supermarket chain Edeka cooked up an unannounced demonstration of the diversity in the German food-supply chain by removing all products from countries other than Germany from the shelves of its Hamburg store.

The result? Shoppers were shocked to find aisles of empty shelves and a store devoid of the wide

selection of food choices they largely take for granted.
Edeka’s campaign surprised not just shoppers but also German and international media as well. After all, taking a stand on controversial political issues is not what’s usually expected of one of the world’s largest corporations. Headquartered in Hamburg with over four thousand stores, Edeka is the second largest supermarket chain in the world in terms of annual revenues. This is the kind of corporation that, at least in American terms, one would expect would play it safe when it comes to controversy.

It’s clear that the social provocateurs and the out-of-the-box marketers hiding out in Edeka’s corporate offices made sure that the messaging to shoppers and the media would be clear, unambiguous, and thought provoking. Prominently displayed near the empty shelves were signs that cleverly signaled the dual messaging on diversity that the corporate giant aimed to communicate to its customers. With signs that read  “Our range now knows borders,” “This is how empty a shelf is without foreigners,” “This shelf is pretty boring without diversity,” or “We will be poorer without diversity,” Edeka squarely thrust itself into the simmering debate in Germany and abroad on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-door policy for refugees from the war-torn countries of Africa and the Middle East.

Edeka’s surprise display of solidarity with the reality of diversity and the changing face of German society in light of Germany’s acceptance of more than one million refugees and asylum seekers from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Eritrea, and Albania was met with decidedly mixed reviews.

Commenting on the controversial campaign, a spokeswoman explained the corporation’s motivations. “Edeka stands for variety and diversity. In our stores, we sell numerous foods which are produced in the various regions of Germany.  But only together with products from other countries, is it possible to create the unique variety that our consumers value.”

Hailed by many for its social and political boldness but dismissed by others as a cynical marketing ploy, Edeka joins other international retailers like America’s Kenneth Cole shoe company and Britain’s United Colors of Benetton in exploiting their commercial bully pulpit to try—often with clever humor—to tip the scales toward a more tolerant and just social compact.

I, for one, applaud Edeka for this gutsy move, for getting out in front of a difficult issue, and for planting a marker that tells its customers just where this corporate giant stands. We need more cleverly conceived campaigns like this one—especially in America and especially now.

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On Friday, May 25, and Saturday, May 26, of this year, Germany set a new world record for solar power generation. On Friday, a third of the country’s energy was generated by solar energy and on Saturday, a full half of Germany was running on solar power.  This is a remarkable achievement for Germany, and for the world. Since the tragic nuclear meltdown in Fukushima, Japan, Germany is shuttering all its nuclear power plants and is committed to replacing them with clean sources of energy. And it seems they are keeping their word. The Guardian reports:

German solar power plants produced a world record 22 gigawatts of electricity – equal to 20 nuclear power stations at full capacity – through the midday hours of Friday and Saturday, the head of a renewable energy think tank has said.

Some critics say renewable energy is not reliable enough nor is there enough capacity to power major industrial nations. But the country’s leader, Angela Merkel has said Germany is eager to demonstrate that is possible.

The jump above the 20 GW level was due to increased capacity this year and bright sunshine nationwide. The 22 GW figure is up from about 14 GW a year ago. Germany added 7.5 GW of installed power generation capacity in 2012 and 1.8 GW more in the first quarter for a total of 26 GW capacity.

According to Reuters: Germany has the world’s largest market for photovoltaic energy, and accounts for nearly half of the world’s solar capacity.

Treehugger, explains that Germany’s feed-in-tariff (FIT) system—which requires utilities to buy solar power from producers, including individuals, at a fixed rate—has fueled the nation’s solar boom. In other words, anybody can install solar panels on their roof, feed them into the grid, and get paid for the energy they contribute back to the system. Since solar panels are becoming more affordable, more people are able to install them and offset their electric bill.

In contradiction to her praise for Germany’s solar achievement, Angela Merkel has proposed cutting FIT solar subsidies in yet another misguided “austerity” measure. Britain has also proposed cutting solar subsidies. At a time when government needs to spend to help working families, both countries are doing exactly the wrong thing.

Why are we subsidizing the fossil fuel industry?

Here at home, we use taxpayer’s money to lavishly subsidize the fossil fuel industry—to the tune of $72 billion over the past 5 years. By contrast, we have allotted only $1 billion for the solar industry. Imagine what we could do if we eliminated fossil fuel subsidies from industries that don’t need them because they are already making massive profits? Imagine, too, if they actually paid taxes? We could use those billions to make real headway in transitioning to clean energy. We could fight climate change and clean up the environment. We could provide jobs installing solar and wind systems for people out of work. We could lead the world in alternative energy research and innovation.

What is the problem here? The answer is simple. We have a political class that is beholden to, and therefore supports, the environmentally polluting fossil fuel industry. The industries themselves spend fortunes on highly manipulative, false, Orwellian ads about how responsible they are to you, the citizen and taxpayer. I’m thinking of the “clean coal” adds, for example. And, behind the scenes, industry lobbyists make sure that any legislation that cuts into their obscene profits is watered down or destroyed before it gets to committee.

If we allow this manipulation and corruption to go unchallenged, we will never make headway in the fight against climate change and global warming, and we will continue to pour billions of taxpayer money into old, dead-end, polluting energy sources. End fossil fuel subsidies. Support renewable energy. Help America become more secure, environmentally responsible and energy independent. It’s the sensible and right thing to do.

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