The Merz of Germany rejects that he slows the green shift
The German Chancellor Friedrich Merz rejected claims on Wednesday that his government undermined the fight of climate change, but insisted that the industry also had to be protected to breathe new life into the economy destroyed by crisis.
Critics accuse that the Coalition -led coalition led by Merz brings a brake to the shift to green energy through measures, ranging from a planned expansion of gas capacity to proposals to delete some renewable energy subsidies.
In a fiery debate in parliament characterized by loud hecking of the opposition banks, the Chancellor noted that his critics claimed that he undermined “climate protection”.
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” said Merz, whose center-right CDU/CSU Bloc rules in coalition with the Center-Linkse SPD.
He emphasized that he wanted climate protection “without ideology. That is the difference between us and the last government.”
In the previous administration, the Greens Party helped the Ministry of Economy and stimulated ambitious measures to speed up the energy transition – some of which caused unrest about extra costs at a time they were already struggling.
“Climate protection that endangers or even destroys the industrial basis of our country, climate protection that endangers the prosperity of our country – that will not be accepted by the population,” said Merz.
Everyone who has not taken this into account will “not only fail in climate protection – they will also fundamentally fail in terms of social cohesion in our country,” he said.
Merz repeatedly emphasized that his government was open to the use of various technologies – from gas power plants to carbon capture and storage – in an attempt to reach greenhouse gas neutrality and at the same time protect vital industries.
Germany wants to reach greenhouse neutrality by 2045, and a considerable part of the electricity in the top economy of Europe is already from renewable sources.
Greens Party legislator Britta Hasselmann accused Merz of taking a “step back in the past”.
“If you call this openness for technology, why do you want to suppress the thing that this country has made so successful – namely the expansion of renewable energies?”
The Government of Merz tries to breathe new life into the traditional powerhouse of the eurozone, which has been shrinking over the past two years, and argues for a more pragmatic approach to the energy transition that she says the costs remain manageable.
