Germany's opposition Green Party overcame internal conflicts Saturday and voted to back a move by the governing coalition to shut down all nuclear energy facilities by 2022, dpa reported. The party conference vote was not as straightforward as it might seem for a Green party, with some members saying the shutdown needed to be sooner and others questioning whether the party was letting Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition take the credit for one of the Greens' signature issues. "How believable would it be if we couldn't back one of our own causes," asked party legislative leader Juergen Trittin. "Here, everyone who is for (a shutdown in) 2017, has to vote for 2022." The move clears the way for Green Party parliamentarians to back the bill when it comes to a vote in the Bundestag on Thursday. The measure was in little danger of failing, but Merkel had made it clear she hoped it could pass without opposition.
