Everyone wants to do something for Mother Earth, but it must not cost anything, neither money nor effort or even renouncing the usual lifestyle. Anne Will comes to the point: “One week until the election – what is the climate worth to us?”
The guests
► Volker Bouffier (69, CDU). Hesse’s Prime Minister throws a lifebuoy to his struggling Chancellor candidate: “Of course a second-placed Union can try to form a government!”
► Saskia Esken (60, SPD). The co-party leader makes with the age-old accusation of “social cold” mood against the Union.
► Christian Lindner (42, FDP). The party and parliamentary group leader relies fully on liberal power: “Freedom is the driver of innovation!”
► Robert Habeck (52, Greens). The party leader is annoyed by the label “green prohibition party”.
► Cerstin Gammelin (56). The journalist (“SZ”) complains: “None of the election programs match reality!”
After the last TV triall, it’s now on the home straight. The Zoff-o-Meter also sees the hidden fouls!
At the start a waddling
Lindner is about a “change to a different economic model in Germany that combines prosperity and growth with the protection of the natural foundations of life”. Innovations are particularly important. Jou.
But Will hears something completely different. Your pointed question to the Greens boss: “Mr. Habeck, has Christian Lindner found the philosopher’s stone with the Der-Markt-regulates-Alles-Weg …?”
The FDP leader immediately intervened: “Ms. Will, that was not my position!”
And she does not get through with Habeck either: “That is not his position,” the Green clarifies, “and that’s not how I understood it either.” Bum!
Most optimistic forecast
“There is a CO2 price,” Lindner then explains. “For this reason, generating electricity from lignite will no longer be profitable in the near future.”
His prediction: “In the course of the 1920s we will get into a situation where the operators of coal-fired power plants say for economic reasons: We would take the power plant off the grid without demanding any compensation.”
Smartest sock campaign
Habeck has no desire to see his Greens constantly presented as a prohibition party: “Bans and regulatory framework are the same,” he lectures.
Most conclusive example: “If the legal framework is that you have to pay for your socks in the store, then you can’t take them out for free. It’s just forbidden to steal.
Most annoying complaint
“The regulatory framework, believe all parties, means: That is forbidden,” adds Habeck. “The fact that we always have to justify the translation into normal German is a joke of this election campaign!”
Clearest announcement
“I would not let a coalition fail because of the rhetoric of ideology,” promises the Green boss. “If we can’t agree on whether to call it ‘regulatory framework’ or ‘prohibition’, that would be ridiculous!”
Habeck’s harsh judgment: “If we fail in climate protection, we have failed as a political generation!”
Most party lightning rod
The SPD leader sits all in red on the left and tries again and again to wedge herself in between: “Now I have to contradict very clearly!” – “We have to somehow honestly pay attention to reality!”
But when Will finally took pity on her and asked why the federal government had not done more for climate protection long ago, Esken quickly passed the buck to the state governments, namely to those in Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria: There the SPD is nowhere to be found.
Most impressive numbers
Bouffier, the only man with a shave, hangs in his chair as if to say: I’m too old for this crap. But when he first asked him, he was immediately on 180.
“I don’t accept claims that you haven’t done anything,” he roars. “That’s not true! We have reduced CO2 emissions by 42 percent in the last 30 years! At the same time, German economic power has increased by 50 percent! “
Most realistic goals
“We’re not arguing about the question that there has to be more,” adds the Prime Minister, raising both index fingers, “but I’m not a friend just to bring the ‘end of the world’!”
Bouffier’s demand: “What we have to do now is to bring three things together: We have to achieve a sustainable reduction in emissions that are harmful to the climate, and at the same time we have to manage to maintain jobs and prosperity.”
Bitterest admission
“Even the green election program, because we are so late and so much time has been lost if it only goes down linearly, is not able to achieve the 1.5-degree target,” Habeck admits, somewhat twistedly . Phew!
His consolation: “Nevertheless there is hope because we are very ambitious.”
Hardest attack
Regarding the constitutional court ruling on the federal government’s climate policy, Habeck says: “You, Ms. Esken, have it in black and white that your program is not enough!”
Then the Green buttoned the SPD candidate for Chancellor: “Mr. Scholz walks around and says: The coal exit will not be touched. Mr. Scholz prides himself on fighting to keep the CO2 price from rising! “
Habeck’s verdict: “I consider Mr Scholz to be a capable mayor in Hamburg, but in terms of climate protection and a ‘climate chancellor’ – sorry! That is a mockery poster! “
Then the Zoff-o-Meter really starts …
“Do you know how many wind turbines you approved last year?” Esken blurts the Hessian and immediately has the answer: “Ten! We won’t get anywhere like that! “
“Frau Eskens …” Bouffier wants to reply, but that is wrong: “My name is Esken, without an S!” The SPD leader corrects him, piqued. Uff!
Lively ping-pong
The FDP boss and the Green boss sit together like Plisch & Plum and open a praise cartel. “How about we prescribe a new way of thinking for ourselves, perhaps also in the spirit of Robert Habeck,” suggests Lindner.
The Green boss immediately indicates the direction: “We have to keep e-fuels and hydrogen, the champagne of the energy transition, for the areas …”
Champagne? “It has to be mineral water!” Grins Lindner.
“Two percent of the country’s area (for wind turbines, the editor) is not enough,” estimates Habeck and warns of the risks of a wrong energy policy: tries to blackmail us. “
Hardest elbow
Finally, Habeck calls for huge “investments from the public sector”, ie tax money, for climate protection. Otherwise China and the USA would take “the jobs, the technology, the future, the jobs, the production facilities of the future all from us.”
“Well, I’d like to make a comment …”, Bouffier intervenes.
General protest. The SPD leader also wants to say something: “I would …”
Will rushes to her help: “Ms. Esken had been in touch for a while!”
The Hessian is still unstoppable: “If we want to take people with us …”
“No, Mr. Bouffier!” Esken is annoyed, but the Prime Minister just keeps talking, unmoved.
Most helpless comment
“Mr. Bouffier!” Will warned the CDU grandee after half a minute. No reaction. Esken waves her hands indignantly: “Your show!” She calls out to the talk show host.
Gammelin’s objections also fail. Then everyone is talking again at the same time. “For reasons of fairness, you have to let Ms. Esken have a say now!” Asks the talk show host, almost desperately.
“We already had that last time!” Shouts Esken grimly.
But Bouffier doesn’t stop until he’s got rid of everything. “I don’t think it’s fair!” Complains the talk show host afterwards, but the Hessians don’t care.
Last stand.
Regarding the railways and local public transport, the SPD leader says: “We cannot send private investments off, but that is our very own task!” She also calls for “less motorized individual transport.”
“You’re right. It’s just not Olaf Scholz’s position, ”says Habeck.
“I also say that Olaf Scholz has little to do with the SPD,” Lindner teased.
“The entire party is behind it!” Esken protests. “You don’t have to try to slip a sheet in between!”
Quote of the evening
Volker Bouffier:
Ms. Baerbock put forward the thesis: Most innovations come with bans. I think that’s nonsense. When you bans people, most of the innovation is how they get past the bans!
Conclusion
A TV triall is so called because three candidates compete in speech and counter-speech. With Anne Will, on the other hand, Triell means that at least three guests always speak at the same time. That was a talk in the category “Verbal Vandals”.