Environment Minister Lemke: It’s unimaginable “how expensive oil and gas are getting” | politics

The Greens are on fire. The heating law causes a lot of trouble.

Germany is arguing about how much climate protection we need. Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (55, Greens) has a lot to do, and she does not spare her party from criticism in the BILD am SONNTAG interview.

PICTURE ON SUNDAY: What is your personal climate protection trick?

STEFFI LEMKE: “I take the train for private and business purposes as often as possible. At home in Dessau, I use many small adjustment screws that everyone has in their everyday life. And I use seasonal products as much as possible, preferably from my own garden – I grow cucumbers and tomatoes.

A great luxury. But since I’ve been Minister, my partner has done most of the work, otherwise the plants would soon be gone.

Unfortunately, as a minister, I can’t always live as sustainably as I would like because I have to fly to conferences and I can’t always do without my electric company car.”

Do you only travel by train and bike privately?

lemke: “Anyone who, like me, lives in a rural region in eastern Germany will probably not be able to do without a car completely in the next few years. We drive a petrol car privately, it’s 20 years old and I only use it occasionally. I travel many more kilometers by train.”

Is the federal government doing enough to protect the environment and climate?

lemke: “The traffic light was the first government ever to define climate protection as a task for all ministries. But I wish there was more in many places.

For example, we need more climate protection in the transport sector, and we want to do a lot more to prevent littering in our cities and in nature.”

What exactly?

lemke: “One example: since January, it has been mandatory for cafés, bistros and restaurants to offer reusable packaging for to-go food and drinks in addition to single-use plastic. This doesn’t work well enough everywhere.

The restaurateurs are asked to also fulfill their legal obligation to reuse, and municipalities and states should control much better. This saves valuable raw materials and less waste will end up in the landscape. The garbage annoys everyone.”

Inflation hits people. Will we soon no longer be able to afford climate protection?

lemke: “Unfortunately, we cannot afford not to do climate protection. It will be really expensive if we do without climate protection measures. Floods, heavy rain, droughts and forest fires are increasing and causing massive damage.

According to a study, extreme weather events, which are becoming more likely and more intense due to the climate crisis, caused damage of almost 145 billion euros from 2000 to 2021, 80 billion of which since 2018 alone.

In northern Germany, the dikes will probably have to be raised by one to two meters. If we don’t act now, it will be unaffordable for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”

That may apply to the economy. But that’s no use to the homeowner who doesn’t have the extra 20,000 euros for the heat pump.

lemke: “To reiterate, no one is being forced to rip out their heating right now. The law only applies if a new heating system is due anyway. And the state will generously support this replacement of the heaters and thus largely offset the additional costs.

I think it’s right that we’re concentrating on the people who can’t afford it or can only afford it with difficulty. In addition: In the medium and long term, a heat pump is cheaper than gas heating.

Many people still cannot imagine how expensive oil and gas will be. At the same time, with the expansion of wind and solar power, electricity is becoming cheaper. We are currently in a phase where we have to leave the old, but the new is far from convincing everyone.

We have to cross that threshold. What is no longer possible is to claim that we still have many years to go, as Friedrich Merz does. That is irresponsible towards our children and grandchildren. If we take climate protection seriously, we need this heat transition.”

Why are the Greens falling in the polls?

lemke: “Because it is no longer enough for the government to sign a fancy climate agreement in Paris but not to act politically at home. We have been experiencing recurring drought summers since 2018 at the latest.

We are at the point where we must act. And now we feel the climate protection measures in our everyday lives, which increases concerns about these changes, that’s quite normal.

And yes, that’s also the phase where we as Greens didn’t immediately hit the right note and should have explained more and better.”

And then Habeck’s State Secretary Graichen heaves his best man to an important job. How bad is the damage?

lemke: “Robert Habeck said everything about that. The error has been corrected, the managing director post at the German Energy Agency is being filled. The polls show that this government is putting an end to the mere lip service when it comes to climate protection.

It acts and clears away problems that previous governments left behind. Greens have always dropped in polls whenever they have been in government responsibility and pushed through changes.

The question is: do we develop the power to convince people that change is necessary, we are using it to secure our future, and we are doing it in such a way that it works and is feasible for the individual.”

From milkmaid to environment minister

Steffi Lemke’s childhood in Dessau was shaped by stinking air and poisoned rivers. Because of the destruction of the environment, the trained milker and agricultural science student joined the GDR opposition and co-founded the Greens in the East in 1989.

She later became managing director of the party and parliamentary group in Berlin. She has an adult son and still lives with her partner in Dessau. She is passionate about paddling on the now clean rivers of her homeland.

Photo: BILD

This article comes from BILD am SONNTAG. The ePaper of the entire issue is available here.

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