Yet meeting emissions targets in the energy sector became nearly impossible after Germans shuttered nuclear power plants in response to the 2011 Fukushima disaster. A more careful, more gradual shift away from nuclear power might well have helped Germany meet the ambitious targets it set in the 1990s, when it was a leader in the fight against global warming. Instead, Germany has now delayed the transition away from coal power until at least 2038, and the government has failed to intercede decisively against plans to mine coal in the Hambacher Forst—an ancient forest situated above a massive reserve of brown coal.