Eric Westervelt

Germans Confront The Costs Of A Nuclear-Free Future

Eric Westervelt — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 18:49:00 +0000

After Japan's Fukushima disaster last year, Germany announced a groundbreaking energy plan: It would phase out all of its domestic nuclear power in a decade and make a transition to safer, carbon neutral energy.

The goal is to have solar, wind and other renewables account for nearly 40 percent of the energy for Europe's largest economy in a decade, and 80 percent by 2050.

But already the revolutionary plan and its ambitious timeline are in doubt.

Poland Watches Warily As Euro Crisis Spreads

Eric Westervelt — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 07:29:00 +0000

One factor that has kept Poland somewhat insulated from the eurozone crisis is domestic consumer spending. Poland had more than 4 percent growth last year while the rest of the continent was mired in negative or flat growth. Poles have more discretionary income than ever before, and they're using it to buy things in swank malls cropping up all over the country.

"Consumer spending has risen significantly in recent years," says Miroslaw Borjarczyk, as he shops at Warsaw's Golden Terraces mall.

Spain's Crisis Pushes Educated Into 'Economic Exile'

Eric Westervelt — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 09:58:00 +0000

In Spain, the growing crisis — debt, austerity and joblessness — has prompted more people to vote with their feet. In the first six months of 2012, emigration from Spain is up more than 44 percent from the same period last year.

The Spanish government denies it, but the "brain drain" has become something of a flood with more and more educated, skilled Spaniards moving abroad.

Neurobiologist Elisa Cuevas Garcia from Madrid sips an iced espresso on a hot afternoon at an outdoor cafe in Berlin.

Jo Nesbo's Fiction Explores Oslo's Jagged Edges

Eric Westervelt — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 09:14:00 +0000

The sun descends reluctantly over Norway's waterside capital, but novelist Jo Nesbo is determined to show Oslo's dark side, to convince me the real city, in parts, is as dirty, twisted and seedy as his own fictional version.

It's a tough sell in this city of bike helmets, clean streets and smiling blond people.

The author has written nine successful novels about the reckless Oslo police detective Harry Hole, a nonconformist with a mercurial mind.

Hole's most meaningful relationship is with bourbon, by the bottle.

The Next Silicon Valley? Berlin Startups Catching Up With The Hype

Eric Westervelt — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 21:20:00 +0000

California's Silicon Valley remains by far the dominant arena for high-tech startups and venture capitalists looking to back innovative projects.

But Europe is starting to make its mark on the startup scene. London, Paris and Berlin are starting to hold their own as more and more European startups look to compete on the global stage and attract investors.

A 'Crazy Green Field' For Creative Types

Sometimes it seems like the entrepreneurial spirit of young Berliners is confined to slacker hipsters selling used clothes to each other.