Germany and Japan are finally winning a war together. Unfortunately, it is the war on rationality.
Coal, as everybody knows, is by far the most damaging source of energy we use, in terms of both the harm to human beings and the impact on the climate. It's twice as bad as natural gas, and dozens of times worse than solar or nuclear or wind power. Yet both Germany and Japan have been building lots of new coal-fired power stations. Why?
Would it upset you if I said it's because they are, despite their apparent sophistication, superstitious peasants at heart? Well, go ahead and get upset.