Switzerland In Focus - Discover Switzerland: Experience the Best of Switzerland - page 561

National Bank, in an unprecedented move, made the value of the Swiss franc tumble in an
instant (by 9% in 15 minutes!) by pegging it at 1.20 to the euro. An entire nation waited
with bated breath to see if the contrived depreciation would pay off. Critics were not con-
vinced.
To the Polls: Parliamentary Elections
Federal elections, held every four years, saw 49% of the Swiss electorate turn out to cast
their vote in the 2011 nationwide ballot. The incumbent Swiss People's Party (SVP; UDC
or Union Démocratique du Centre in French) lost the greatest share of votes - a disap-
pointment for the right-wing party who'd hoped to beat the record 29% of votes it had set
four years previously. The country's other main political party, left-wing rivals the Social
Democrat Party, likewise saw a drop in support, as Swiss punters hedged their bets with
smaller, relatively new parties like the Liberal Greens and Conservative Democrats.
Mad about their Land: Go Green
Given the overwhelming beauty of their country, it's natural that the Swiss are mad about
their land. 'Go green' is the dominant vibe and 'sustainable technology' the buzzword for
the man on the street and pioneering scientists striving to go around the world Jules
Verne-style in solar-powered boats and planes. As recently as September 2011, the Swiss
parliament banned the construction of new nuclear-power plants and called for a nuclear
phase-out (in favour of hydroelectric power) by 2034. Currently, five nuclear-power
plants generate 40% of Switzerland's energy needs.
Reinventing the Alps is the hot topic at higher altitudes. World-class architects are re-
spectfully weaving futuristic apartments clad in larch-wood tiles (Sir Norman Foster in St
Moritz) and spiralling hotel towers of ecological dimensions (Herzog & de Meuron in Da-
vos) into Switzerland's quintessential Heidi-postcard landscape with great success. But
how to be green and how to burn clean energy are not the most pressing matters. Rather, it
is what must be done to keep ski resorts sustainable as the globe warms; experts say we
can forget sure-thing snow below 1500m by 2050.