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An e-Golf in Hanover: e-cars are hardly affordable for low-wage earners.
Photo: Julian Stratenschulte / dpa
E-cars are considered climate-friendly, but expensive.
Now the Greens want to give commuters without a company car and people with low incomes "more support when switching to a clean car," said Green Chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock.
"That means promoting the purchase of used electric cars because many cannot afford a new car," Baerbock told the Handelsblatt.
The current system is »definitely not fair«: a well-paid freelancer »who buys a company car for 150,000 euros with high CO2 emissions is relieved by the state and thus by the general public with over 75,000 euros«, Baerbock calculated .
"A midwife who earns significantly less and drives a small car for a tenth of the purchase price - with much lower CO2 emissions because it is small - only receives a little over 5,000 euros in tax relief."
That is "not only ecologically wrong, but also manifests the social division in this country," said the Greens chairwoman.
The larger and more climate-damaging the car, the higher the taxation should be in the future.
Baerbock also spoke out in favor of an »industrial pact« between business and politics in order to make better progress on climate protection. "It needs a joint approach by industry and politics, a restructuring program with a historical dimension," she told the newspaper. The companies would have to be significantly faster when converting to climate neutrality. "To do this, they need the security of politicians that their billions in investments, which they are facing now, will pay off in the future."
This is possible, for example, through "climate contracts" through which the state compensates for the additional costs for the company if it produces in a climate-neutral manner.
The state must now ensure planning security and make advance payments, said Baerbock.
However, if the products pay off in the future, "the companies give the advance back to the general public."
mic / afp
