Green boss snaps at CDU man at Maischberger: "Say: 'We made a mistake here!'"

Created: 06/30/2022, 12:45 p.m

The guests at "Maischberger" (ARD) on June 29th, 2022.

© ARD media library (screenshot)

Can coal-fired power plants close the supply gap or is it possible without a return to nuclear power?

At Maischberger, the German energy future is being debated.

Berlin – “I would really expect people to say: We made a mistake here!

We threw the cart in the dirt!” In the ARD political talk “Maischberger”, Green party leader Ricarda Lang takes on the Union faction leader, Thorsten Frei (CDU), to her chest.

Actually, the two should discuss the possibility of bridging the gap until the complete energy transition, but when Frei speaks out in favor of extending the life of the three remaining German nuclear power plants, Lang suddenly becomes snappy: “You sit down and say the government has to do one now Have a plan,” she snaps at the CDU man.

"After 16 years where your party made sure we are in this situation now!

That we have made ourselves dependent on Russia!”

sandra

Maischberger has to intervene to stop the Green leader: “The debate about who has done what wrong and when in the last 16 years will not help us this winter!” But Frei also wants to get rid of his two cents: “These Criticism is not legitimate, it is also cheap,” Frei defends himself.

"Why do we have the addiction?

Talk to coalition partners.

Especially in the SPD..." Maischberger now draws the red card in the direction of Frei: "But you don't want to say now, it wasn't us, it was the SPD?!" Frei meekly agrees and just about gets the curve: "We should Draw lessons for the future!”

"Maischberger" - these guests discussed with:

• Ricarda Lang (B'90/The Greens) -

  Party leader

• Thorsten Frei (CDU) -

  Union parliamentary group manager

• Hanna Polonska -

  German teacher from Bucha, connected from Kiev

As experts: 

• Rainer Hank

  - columnist for the

  Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper

• Sabine Adler

   - Correspondent for Eastern Europe at

  Deutschlandfunk

• dr

  Eckart von Hirschhausen

   - doctor, author, TV presenter, comedian

Heated debate about the threat of cold in winter and the big question: what to do about it?

And in such a way that it is affordable for everyone?

An option that is currently being discussed a lot and controversially: Extend AKW runtimes?

Lang is strictly against it and states uncompromisingly: "Nuclear power is not an energy form of the future."

Frei has a different opinion: It is not about "undoing what we decided in the past," he assures us, but simply about "extending operations" in this "very special situation" where we are dealing with "a very difficult one approaching winter,” the CDU politician tries to convey.

Deutschlandfunk correspondent Sabine Adler reveals that winter will probably not be the end of the day.

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Lang becomes strict: "In terms of cost-benefit calculations, it's not worth it!" She underpins her rejection of nuclear power and enumerates insurance problems, the lack of fuel elements and the "extremely expensive new approval procedures".

"Solvable problems!" claims Frei.

The fuel rods lasted until spring.

“You know that the uranium comes from Russia!” the Green objected.

Frei contradicts: "It comes from many different countries" and lists possible candidates: South Africa, Kazakhstan ... Lang counters this again with another point: Without an approval process there is no insurance cover ...

Facing the “greatest transformation in human history”

But Frei considers the risk to be manageable: "The nuclear power plants in Germany are constantly being kept up to date, and this will continue to be the case," he says.

Lang draws her last trump card: "False debate!", she finds.

At the moment there is no electricity problem in Germany, but a heat problem!

Lang is now apparently upset: "If we could do without it, if we could ensure security of supply, if we could secure the heat supply for this autumn and winter with nuclear power, then I would be the first to be willing to do it!" But then comes the but: "That's simply not the case."

Now it is moderator Sandra Maischberger who serves Lang a counter-argument.

The talk show host throws a quote from the Finnish parliamentary group leader, Atte Harjanne, on the studio wall and reads: "... Our ultimate goal is to become CO2 neutral, and for this we want to exhaust all possibilities on the basis of science.

If nuclear power gets us there as quickly as possible, the end justifies this means.” Maischberger cheekily asks: “Why are the Finns green differently than you?” She asks the Green Party leader, but she smiles at the answer: "Each country goes its own way," she distracts from the topic.

And then: "We have to be much faster in expanding renewable energies."

Ukrainian lost husband and baby in Bucha: "I don't understand why you need something like that"

Lang is far more open to tips on how to save energy.

While Chancellor Olaf Scholz is reluctant to do so, Economics Minister Robert Habeck is happy to give savings tips, including how to save energy when showering.

According to Lang, the issue should not be passed on to citizens as a "political transfer of responsibility".

But she also objects that the "greatest transformation in human history", which is currently being set in motion with the global climate protection of the industrialized nations, does not go unnoticed by the population either.

Lang: "We will need the citizens" - even speaks of a "renaissance of responsible citizens".

At the end of the program, the 32-year-old German teacher Hanna Polonska, who is connected from Kyiv, reports on the war in her home country.

Polonska lost her husband and her unborn child in the Butscha attack, but survived with serious injuries.

She still can't walk properly, and another operation is pending: "The doctors in the hospital were very scared because they didn't know what to start with!" Her wish: to speak in the German Bundestag!

"I would like to say that we have to join forces to fight against this aggressor." She could not have imagined that such a war could happen, one question still worries her today: "I don't understand why something like this could happen needs!"

Adler is of the opinion that Putin's army has modern weapons, but no modern leadership.

In addition, Putin's condition is "scary": Adler: "The question is whether his reference to reality is still there at all."

Conclusion of the “Maischberger.

The week” talks

Fierce debate, but little content.

The AKW discussion left the viewers rather at a loss.

Not only when it comes to heating in winter, but also when it comes to the question: How should the energy transition be managed when the energy required for this is permanently scarce?