Updated on: September 13, 2024 / 9:56 AM EDT / CBS News
Germany is denying an assertion made by former President Donald Trump during the presidential debate Tuesday about the country’s renewable energy industry.
“You believe in things like we’re not going to frack, we’re not going to take fossil fuel, we’re not going to do things that are going to be strong, whether you like it or not,” Trump said in his debate against Vice President Kamala Harris. “Germany tried that, and within one year, they were back to building normal energy plants.”
But on Wednesday, Germany’s Federal Foreign Office decided to issue a rebuttal, echoing the former president’s language.
“Like it or not: Germany’s energy system is fully operational, with more than 50% renewables,” the Federal Foreign Office shared on X. “And we are shutting down – not building – coal & nuclear plants. Coal will be off the grid by 2038 at the latest.”
The German Foreign Office also poked at Trump for another comment he made during the debate.
“PS: We also don’t eat cats and dogs,” it concluded, referring to Trump’s debunked claim that Haitian migrants had eaten pets in Springfield, Ohio. The town’s authorities have said that there have not been credible reports about migrants targeting pets.
“Contradiction with facts and humor — that is the right answer to disinformation,” German State Minister Anna Lührmann added on Thursday about her government’s response. “As democrats, we can no longer allow ourselves to leave false statements uncommented.”
Climate change and energy policies are raised frequently during both candidates’ election campaigns. Trump also claimed that if Harris wins the election, fracking in Pennsylvania “will end on day one.”
“Fossil fuel will be dead,” Trump said. “We’ll go back to windmills, and we’ll go back to solar.”
Before she became vice president, Harris, who was a senator representing California, pushed for climate-friendly policies. “There’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking,” Harris said in 2019. But as vice president, she has changed course.
“I have not banned fracking as vice president,” Harris told Trump. “My position is that we have got to invest in diverse sources of energy so we reduce our reliance on foreign oil.”