Germany's cabinet has approved a new energy strategy hoping to extend the lifespan of the country's nuclear reactors. It places more levies on their operators to further boost renewable energy. Under the new proposal, nuclear plants built before 1980 in Germany can be run for eight extra years, and those born after 1980 can extend their running time to 14 year. The decision has toppled the old legislation supported by the previous government, a coalition of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens, which decided to shut down all 17 nuclear power stations by 2022. The German government is also planning to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent and raise the share of green energy in power generation from the current 16 percent to 80 percent by 2050.