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Chairman of the climate committee in the Bundestag, Klaus Ernst (left)
Photo: Christoph Hardt / Future Image / IMAGO
Some CDU politicians are putting pressure on the traffic light government by moving away from their traditional no to speed limits on motorways - and in return demanding the extension of the operating times of the remaining three German nuclear power plants.
For example, Union parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn said on ARD that nationwide speed limits on motorways could be considered if the Greens backed away from their nuclear power plant veto.
The chairman of the climate committee in the Bundestag, Klaus Ernst, now accuses the Union of playing a "wrong game" with these demands: "Neither the speed limit nor an extension of the operating times of nuclear power plants will help us in the acute energy crisis," said the left-wing politician on the MIRROR.
Second power supply security stress test
Ernst continues: "This is a sham debate being pursued by the Union, which will not get us anywhere." An extension of the nuclear power plants would only help from January 2023, if at all.
Less fuel consumption due to slower driving on the highway also does not help when there is a lack of gas.
"The speed limit is correct, but that has nothing to do with our possible lack of gas in winter," says Ernst.
In the meantime, the federal government is also leaving a door open for the continued operation of the three remaining nuclear power plants in Germany beyond the end of the year.
A government spokeswoman said on Monday in Berlin that the issue of nuclear power plants had not been an ideological issue for the federal government from the start, but a purely technical one.
She referred to an announced second stress test on the security of the electricity supply.
“That is the basis of decisions.” A spokeswoman for Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) said that decisions would be made on the basis of facts and analyses.
The former leader of the left, Klaus Ernst, also emphasized: Of course, there should be no ideological blinkers: "If it were to be technically ensured that the nuclear power plants could continue to run just as safely as was previously the case, such a step would be conceivable.
But I am very skeptical.«
However, it is now crucial to talk to the Russians about the gas supplies.
"In the long term we must become independent of fossil fuels, but in the short term we are dependent on Russian gas," says Ernst.
Unlike his party, Ernst speaks out vehemently against the energy sanctions against Russia.
These would not harm Russia, but would actually be of use due to the higher gas prices.
