In the middle of the coalition dispute over nuclear power, the Greens have backed their Federal Economics Minister, Robert Habeck. The two southern German nuclear power plants Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim 2 should be kept in reserve until April 15 and continue to be used to generate electricity if necessary, the party conference in Bonn decided late Friday evening with a clear majority. The third remaining Emsland nuclear power plant, on the other hand, is to be finally shut down on January 1, 2023.
The delegates rejected the procurement of new fuel elements. “Bündnis 90/Die Grünen will not agree to any legal regulation in the Bundestag that would procure new fuel elements or the new enriched uranium required for them,” says the approved motion. Ultimately, however, it was still unclear whether the parliamentary groups would even vote on this question. The FDP rejects Habeck’s plans and insists that the nuclear power plants continue to operate for a longer period of time.
At the urging of the former Federal Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin, some tightening of the regulations was included in the text of the decision. Nuclear power does not ensure more security of supply. And the skyrocketing electricity prices are also due to the “disaster” of France’s nuclear strategy, according to the decision. Federal Economics Minister Habeck described a return to nuclear power as “wrong”. He added: “That’s definitely not going to happen to us.” Regarding the reserve operation of the two nuclear power plants, he said that “we shouldn’t rule out this contribution from the outset” because of the emerging gap in the energy supply.
“We stand for everything that Putin and his German trolls hate”
In his speech at the federal party conference, Habeck emphasized that Russia must not win the war in Ukraine. Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin should not win, “not on the battlefield and in the economic war against Europe and Germany,” he said in the evening. He also admitted: “This winter will be tough for all of Germany.”
He warned his party colleagues against hostilities. There will be “because we stand for everything that Putin and his German trolls hate”. He included the exit from fossil fuels, human rights, freedom of the press and individual freedom. “We will become stronger through this hatred,” Habeck continued.
In a speech that was sometimes emotional, he invoked the cohesion of the Greens in the current time of crisis. “This party made incredibly difficult decisions at an incredible speed,” said Habeck. “We are also subjected to a stress test and have said yes to the responsibility.” The party has proven this again and again in recent months.
“It’s worth being in the government,” said Habeck, citing, among other things, an increase in the minimum wage and citizen’s income, but also the coal phase-out, which was brought forward by eight years.
Habeck’s indirect tip against the FDP
Habeck only indirectly addressed the dispute in the traffic light coalition about the continued operation of the three nuclear power plants still in operation in Germany. Alluding to the FDP, Habeck said the Greens didn’t have to think about why they were in government: “We don’t have to raise our profile,” he exclaimed to the cheers of the delegates. “Fossil energies and nuclear power have given us this energy shortage. They are not the solution, they are the problem.”
For his party, Habeck claimed pragmatism and a willingness to compromise. “You can only open your arms and be generous if you know where you stand and where you want to go. And that’s how we keep the shop together.” It pays off for the Greens that they “do not behave in a partisan small-minded manner, but can be measured against reality”.
Ricarda Lang: “The green DNA is justice”
Green Party leader Ricarda Lang defended her party’s course on arms deliveries to Ukraine – and called for a faster pace: “I’m convinced that we have to deliver more weapons, that we have to be faster – the time for hesitation is over. “
Ricarda Lang at the federal party conference of the Greens
Source: dpa/Kay Nietfeld
Russian President Putin is to blame for the war. Lang accused the previous government of CDU/CSU and SPD of the “brilliant failure of the fossil policy of the grand coalition”. The Union called them “an opposition that has no concepts”. Addressing the AfD and its supporters in particular, Lang said: “Democracy cannot be shouted away.”
“Green DNA is justice,” Lang said. “The basis of green politics is justice, the principle is responsibility.” She added: “And we, we seek this responsibility.”
The traffic light and the nuclear power plant dispute
On the Friday before the party congress, Lang had declared that the purchase of new fuel rods to extend the life of the last three remaining nuclear power plants in Germany was a “red line”. She received opposition from FDP leader Christian Lindner. Lang’s co-chairman Omid Nouripour joined her. “We have agreed on the operational reserve, and that must also apply,” Nouripour said on the Phoenix television station, adding: “To draw a clear line, to say that we will not buy any new fuel elements, this party congress will also decide that.” Of course, in a tripartite coalition it must always be about reaching an agreement, but “we do not have an endless amount of compromise abilities and possibilities”.
The Greens have already made it possible for there to be a reserve of two nuclear power plants in southern Germany by mid-April next year. However, Germany’s energy path is different. “There can only be one future for energy security, cheap energy and energy independence in this country and that is renewables,” said the Green Party leader.
Further resolutions of the party congress
The delegates at the party congress decided in the evening that “an additional 100 billion euros should be made available for climate protection investments”. The funds should be used for a law to fight fossil inflation. “In order to reduce energy costs in the long term, we are securing the expansion of production capacities for heat pumps, wind power and photovoltaic systems from the state and consistently aligning public procurement with climate protection goals,” says the decision, among other things. Where the money will come from is not specified.
In addition, the Greens called for people on lower incomes to be given priority when it comes to relieving the population of rising energy prices in the future. According to the resolution, the previous relief packages would primarily benefit those who were putting the rising prices under particular financial pressure.
In the resolution, the Greens advocate a basic volume quota per household for gas and retrospective compensation for rising prices before March 1st.