On several occasions in recent days, the candidate of the French Communist Party (PCF) for the presidential election Fabien Roussel assured that Yannick Jadot (EELV) and Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI) supported the negaWatt project to consider an exit from nuclear power. At the microphone of France Inter, Tuesday, February 15, he adds: “You have to read to the end what they are planning in the négaWatt project. They plan to stop building individual houses by 2050! »
A questioning reiterated by the communist candidate, Monday, at the microphone of Europe 1. To denounce “the left which makes people feel guilty”, Fabien Roussel affirmed: “Certain left candidates […], to meet the ecological challenge, will force you to stop driving, to stop eating meat, to stop having the right to build houses in the countryside. »
Do Yannick Jadot and Jean-Luc Mélenchon really support the négaWatt project? And do they want to stop the construction of individual houses? We take stock.
FAKE OFF
To understand the controversy launched by the candidate Fabien Roussel, we must first look at the négaWatt project. Every five years, before the presidential election, this association created in 2001 presents a scenario to encourage energy sobriety, energy efficiency and 100% renewables.
In the report published in 2022, do the energy transition and nuclear phase-out objectives imply the end of individual houses? “Absolutely not”, answers Yves Marignac, spokesperson for the association, contacted by 20 minutes. “The négaWatt scenario predicts, in the long term, a very sharp contraction in the construction of new housing simply linked to demographic trends. We will need less individual houses. In addition, we give priority to small collective, which seems more sustainable to us, but without eliminating the individual house, ”he adds.
And Yves Marignac continues: “In the négaWatt scenario, the share of individual houses is only reduced from 56 to 55% [du nombre total de logements], so it remains practically stable. The scenario is not at all a scenario of eliminating individual houses, it is rather a scenario of stopping the suburban model in peri-urban sprawl. »
A scenario largely validated by the candidates
Did Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Yannick Jadot support the négaWatt project and are they following the association’s recommendations to phase out nuclear power? “Of course, we are basing ourselves on the negaWatt scenario, which is extremely interesting. It demonstrates that we can make 100% renewable energies for 2040, that is to say not only not to open new EPRs, but also to close the various power plants still in operation. Of course, that interests us a lot, ”explains Marine Tondelier, spokesperson for candidate Yannick Jadot.
On the side of the Mélenchon clan, it is ensured that the négaWatt scenario “inspires the 100% renewable policy that the candidate wants to put in place”. One of the managers of the “energy transition” section with the candidate explains to us: “It is a very serious and complete production. But we are not just stopping at the negaWatt scenario. We also rely on reports from Ademe or the Electricity Transmission Network (RTE), for example. »
Moreover, at négaWatt, we insist on the political independence of the association. “We are not there to feed the program of one candidate or another, we are at the disposal of all the actors”, maintains Yves Marignac.
What Yannick Jadot really says
Last point: what are the candidates really saying about the construction of new individual pavilions? “Obviously, Yannick Jadot does not want to ban individual houses »advances its spokesperson Marine Tondelier, who nevertheless pleads for the reduction in construction: “We cannot continue forever to build new houses in new areas, we can clearly see that we are coming to a saturation effect on our territory. “explains the spokesperson.
In the team of the candidate of France Insoumise, the idea of ending individual houses is not relevant either. “It was never in question! exclaims our interlocutor. But on the construction of new pavilions, the answer is less clear-cut. The candidate’s program explicitly proposes to “stop urban sprawl”. And to add: “Global energy renovation and the construction of public housing will be two pillars of the investment plan that we will launch as soon as we come to power. The thermal renovation of housing is one of the priorities displayed by both Yannick Jadot and Jean-Luc Mélenchon.