> The Green movement does not seem strong in France, but I'm not sure why.
I have a theory. The French people like the American people put a great deal of value on liberty. Most of the purposed changes made by green activists involve ratcheting up state control the citizen's daily life and as a result are unpopular.
Most French put a much greater deal of value on equality than on liberty, and prefer a central and technocratic government, in the vain hope of having it enforce equality.
Hence the immense importance there of Massive Things Backed By Long-Term Plans, natural fruit of any jacobinist gov.
IMHO this lead to massive failures, as those Massive Things are less and less adequate in a fast-paced world.
The French approach to liberty is extremely different to American libertarianism, though. Huge support for state control of business in particular, strong unions, employment law etc.
How does this relate to nuclear reactors? I do realize how Macro used environmental concerns as an excuse to burden poorer people in peripheral areas with more taxes (rather than, say, taxing the rich and helping to finance hybrid or lower-emission, fuel-efficient vehicles for people in the countryside).
The reason they are wearing the yellow vests are because some government official who knows better than the population decided that everyone must carry two of them in their cars at all times. Similarly they also decided to raise fuel taxes (cars are required for rural life) and subsidize public transport (used in urban areas).
The French are also pragmatic and have seen the failure of the German green energy model, why on earth would they want to do that?
I have a theory. The French people like the American people put a great deal of value on liberty. Most of the purposed changes made by green activists involve ratcheting up state control the citizen's daily life and as a result are unpopular.