Friday April 28, 2023
While climate activists of the last generation in Berlin are fighting for quick action in the face of the climate catastrophe, the traffic light coalition is arguing about one of the most important goals of CO2 limitation: the Building Energy Act. At Maybrit Illner, SPD general secretary Kühnert makes it clear that he still sees a lot of need for regulation when it comes to funding and age limits.
“We’re taking to the streets everywhere in Berlin at the moment. Hundreds of people have come to the streets in the last few days because they no longer want to watch us continue to race into the escalating climate crisis,” said climate activist Carla Rochel on Thursday evening at Maybrit Illner on ZDF . It’s not about thinking about how to socially cushion the fight against the crisis. “I want to trust politics,” she says at the end of the show. One or the other viewer will ask whether she can do that. One could get the impression that politicians are solving the climate problems with the handbrake on. Perhaps the tasks are so complicated that there is no other way.
This becomes clear with the question of the design of the new building energy law. It is intended to regulate the heat transition in Germany. It was supposed to be a milestone in terms of climate protection, but it has now become a bone of contention. The cabinet passed the law last week, and three days later the FDP called for changes at its federal party conference. For the first time, people in Germany can experience live how a law is created. On the one hand, that’s okay, because it’s about something that affects us all: the question of how we will heat our houses and apartments in the future. But it is also problematic because many Germans are unsettled. Actually, it is usual for a law passed by the cabinet to go through a parliamentary procedure in which it is revised again. It is unusual for the discussion about a law to be held openly. But perhaps that is exactly what the climate activists want, who would like to set up a citizens’ council to advise the government on its decisions. “We demand that we really live democracy,” says Rochel. And that’s exactly what’s happening.
“Legislative project not yet mature”
It turns out on Thursday evening that SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert does not entirely agree with the currently planned regulations on heating. A majority of Germans call for strong climate protection, emphasizes the politician. “When specific legislative projects come along that are not yet mature and are therefore in the parliamentary process so that they can be made even better, there is always resistance. And then the discussion begins about how.” There was agreement on the question that Germany must be climate-neutral by 2045, maybe even earlier. Now it’s about specific questions such as heating replacement or subsidies. “That’s where politics begins, it’s happening right now,” says Kühnert.
It is clear that the Building Energy Act will initiate the heating transition in Germany. But it is also clear “that this law will not pass the Bundestag without the funding framework being decided at the same time. We will not leave anyone in the dark for even an hour as to how the whole thing will then be cushioned. And we will still have to make improvements compared to the draft that has now been submitted, as far as certain age and income limits are concerned. They don’t convince me yet.” Kühnert would like concrete subsidies for pensioners, he can even imagine that they will be exempted from changing the heating system, a regulation that has so far only applied to people over 80 years of age.
CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt complains that the law only contains threats and penalties. The funding options should only be clarified in the parliamentary procedure. “That’s a very big negligence, what the traffic light has done there. It’s clear that the law can’t get through the Bundestag like this, thank God. You’re on the wrong track there.”
Karen Pittel from the IFO Institute in Munich also criticizes the law. The goal of the federal government that a million new heating systems should be installed every year cannot be achieved. There are not enough craftsmen in Germany for this. “The lead time is too short.” This cannot be done without a whole series of exceptions.
Incentives to change heating
According to Dobrindt, it is also important to encourage people to change their heating systems. Kühnert and Dobrindt agree that this is only possible through financial support and an increase in the price of the CO2 emitted. That could go through emissions trading, possibly through an increase in the CO2 tax.
In any case, one thing is clear: the heating transition will not come for free. Karen Pittel knows that too. “We mustn’t hide one thing: that we all have to bear certain costs,” she says.