Debate before the election: 45 minutes for the climate

The federal government wants to found an international climate club. But around 30 days before the election the question arises: How much climate protection do the parties want? Your top people met for a panel discussion. The German environmental scene, united in the “Climate Alliance”, had invited. Who could score?

You can often tell whether someone is at peace with himself from the answers. But sometimes also on the questions. “Who should answer now?” Asks SPD Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz into the digital silence. “All of them,” says the moderator. “Yes, who will be the first and who will be the first?”, Scholz does not give up.

The social democrat, the winner of the current poll, obviously feels so relaxed about this climate debate by social and environmental organizations that he wants to help regulate the moderation. In terms of content, he hardly comes under pressure. Prefer to phase out coal? Yes, but there has to be enough renewable energy for that, explains Scholz. Hence Scholz’s favorite motto: expand faster. “I want to make sure that the planning laws are changed so that the approval of a wind turbine takes six months instead of six years.” If the power grid is not expanded, there would really be a climate catastrophe.

A rushed digital conversation

The climate – actually the winning theme of the Greens. But top candidate Annalena Baerbock is now on the defensive again, for example through Volker Wissing from the FDP: “To be honest, I don’t quite understand Ms. Baerbock, how she explains that the federal government is to blame for the fact that there is so little in Baden-Württemberg Has expanded wind energy. I didn’t really realize that. “

What Baerbock is then unfortunately not allowed to make clear in this rushed digital conversation – which is actually not a conversation at all. Because if you want to hook up, you will be ignored. The event only lasts a good 45 minutes.

Well-rehearsed attack sentences

This leaves only what is called standard situations in football in terms of political offensive actions. Well-rehearsed attacks, such as Baerbock’s proposal for the Greens for a € 1,000 grant for cargo bikes: “The fact that the Union is already getting heart beats even when it comes to cargo bikes shows how some debates have simply remained in the past.”

But no one got a racing heart in this debate. Not even climate politician Andreas Jung from the CDU. His boss, Armin Laschet, stayed away from the event straight away. Jung lists what the coalition has achieved in recent years, including binding CO2 savings targets for every year, in every economic sector. They will immediately check whether they have been reached. “If not, you have to readjust,” explains Jung. “There can’t be any compromises, that’s consistent climate protection.” The SPD actually negotiated that into it.

What will happen to the combustion engine?

And anyone who talks about readjusting may also show that they don’t believe that their own climate policy has so far been sufficient. But there is no time for such inquiries. At least for a quick turn to e-cars and Janine Wissler from the left. “It’s not enough to simply replace the combustion engine and basically leave everything as it is,” says Wissler. “We want to reduce motorized individual traffic overall. And not by making it any more expensive, but by creating alternatives.”

Moving towards public transport, away from one’s own car: When it comes to climate protection in traffic, the differences between the parties briefly light up. And when it comes to the fact that the EU actually wants to ban new combustion cars from 2035 onwards, SPD man Scholz even dares to step out of cover very cautiously: “The goals that the European Commission has formulated for reducing CO2 from cars are very ambitious . I do believe, however, that the German automotive industry will achieve this before that without our needing any further legal regulation. ” Which could mean: Chancellor Olaf Scholz might also try to prevent a Europe-wide ban on burners – just like the Chancellor has done so far.