The federal government sees the use of gas power plants as a transitional technology.
(Photo: Paul Langrock/laif)
Steffi Lemke and Robert Habeck quietly and secretly rolled up their flags. The Federal Environment Minister and the Economics Minister quickly published a joint press statement on Saturday in which they vehemently opposed the inclusion of nuclear power in the EU taxonomy, but became meek when it came to gas.
They support the compromise that the federal government has agreed on. This compromise aims to make the construction of gas-fired power plants even easier compared to the EU Commission’s proposals.
Welcome to reality. The Greens’ top politicians are going through a process that will cost them a lot of energy. And which also has the potential to drive a wedge between the party base and the party leadership.
Lemke and Habeck simply act rationally.
You know that the operation of gas-fired power plants will still be unavoidable for a few years. And that it must be a political goal to speed up the construction of new gas-fired power plants – and not to hinder it.
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Large parts of the base see it completely differently. The youth organization Green Youth, for example, wants Germany to phase out the use of natural gas completely by 2035 at the latest. From this perspective, every additional gas-fired power plant represents a betrayal of climate policy goals.
The decision is correct
However, Habeck and Lemke have bowed to the realization that there is often a wide gap between what is desirable and what is feasible when it comes to energy and climate policy issues. It is not just a question of good will whether the goal of climate neutrality will be achieved.
It is also about security of supply, costs and technical feasibility. It’s about when climate-neutral hydrogen will be available in relevant quantities and whether huge electricity storage capacities will be available in a few years’ time or not.
Habeck and Lemke made the right decision. The party must now clarify how to deal with it.28000154
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