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Baden-Württemberg Prime Minister Kretschmann
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Bernd Weissbrod / dpa
The war in Ukraine causes energy prices to rise.
This fuels the debate about a speed limit.
Baden-Württemberg's Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann has now called for a temporary speed limit in view of the energy crisis and the high costs of fuel.
"That would have an immediate effect, that's an immediate saving," said the Green politician at a discussion event in the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" (SZ) in Munich.
"To jump over the shadows, at least for two years, would be worth a discussion," he said to the coalition partner FDP in the federal government, which is opposed to a speed limit.
»We Greens really jump over some ideological shadow every week.
I can't see that with other parties."
Bavaria's head of government Markus Söder (CSU) contradicted his green colleague at the "SZ" event: "The speed limit does not generate any electricity at all." That is not a solution for the impending risks in the coming winter.
He again spoke out in favor of longer operating times for nuclear power plants, which are actually supposed to be shut down at the end of the year.
In view of the impending gas shortage due to the Ukraine war, all possibilities must be used to take countermeasures, said Söder.
For safety reasons, Kretschmann opposed longer running times: "I don't think about it anymore."
Three months ago, the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) proposed various measures to be significantly more economical with energy.
This also included driving less and, above all, more slowly.
If drivers reduced their speed on freeways to a maximum of 100 kilometers per hour and to 80 km/h on out-of-town roads, that would save around 2.1 billion liters of fossil fuel.
After all, that immediately corresponds to around 3.8 percent of the fuel consumed in the transport sector.
In May, the conference of environment ministers surprisingly called for a temporary speed limit on Germany's autobahns.
With the new debate, the pressure on the traffic light coalition in the federal government is growing.
asc/dpa
