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Trade unionist Hofmann (left), environmentalist Bandt
Photo:
Markus Hintzen;
Steffen Roth / DER SPIEGEL
SPIEGEL:
Mr. Bandt, Mr. Hofmann, has the car reached the end of its history?
Hofmann:
The wheel has accompanied human history for thousands of years, and it will continue to accompany it.
The question is whether the car as a form of individual mobility has come to an end?
I don't think so.
Bandt:
The car that we have got used to over the past 20 years has to come to an end.
This constant more: more weight, more horsepower, more speed, more raw material consumption.
We can no longer afford that, and approval is also falling.
We need more public transport by bike and on bikes, less private transport.
Hofmann:
That applies largely to city traffic.
In the country, the end of the car as an individual means of transport is not yet in sight.
Not in Germany, and certainly not in many regions of the world where the need for mobility is only just emerging.
It is true that new mobility concepts are needed, and that includes new vehicle concepts.
Bandt:
I think we've found other technologies and ways in the meantime.
There was a time when there was no alternative to the horse-drawn carriage.
That was of course not true, and there is no alternative to the mobility that we have built up over the past few decades.
Public transport is a huge opportunity.
We have had alternatives in the cities for a long time, and in the countryside we must also ensure such alternatives so that we can get by without CO2 emissions by the end of 2040.
We will not get any further with a policy like the one at the most recent auto summit: Once again, billions were distributed to corporations without being committed to a binding exit path from the internal combustion engine.
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