German Nuke Companies to Stop Paying Greenies

Since the German government has decided to shut down 17 nuclear power plants in the wake of the Japanese Fukushima accident, four energy companies have decided to stop payments to the environmental fund.

EON, RWE and Vattenfall told AFP they stopped payment, starting this month, to the fund created in January as compensation for the government's decision last year to prolong the life of 17 nuclear plants by more than a decade, until the mid-2030s.

The environmental fund is set to lose €300 million (about $430 million) in 2011.

Ouch! That's got to sting.