Coal is dividing Greece | DW Documentary

Four old, coal-fired power plants are devastating the landscape in Greece. Open-cast mines continue to spread, causing a controversy that is dividing the country.

Coal once brought prosperity and energy to northern Greece. But today, the negative consequences of the industry are becoming more apparent. The village of Akrini is surrounded by open-cast brown coal mines. The carbon dioxide emissions from the nearby power plants are making people ill. Semi-public organizations bought up the villagers’ fields and promised to resettle them, but then backed out later. Because there was no coal beneath the village, both resettlement and compensation failed to materialize.

This documentary looks at the desperate plight of those affected. Nikos Voriatzidis is 54 years old. He is raising three children and no longer knows where to turn. Apostolis Kallianidis, 33, father of two, sees no future for himself. A third-generation miner, he says "My village, Kleitos, used to be here. I pack dynamite into in this soil, that my grandfather once sowed with seed. But without the power plant, I would be jobless."

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Видео Coal is dividing Greece | DW Documentary канала DW Documentary