The name came naturally.
“
We went there frankly!
“Explains Yann Wehrling presenting “Les Écolos”, a new center-right ecological political party dedicated to “
moderate ecology
”.
Because for the vice-president of the Île-de-France region, in charge of the ecological transition, the subject must come out of the political radicalism in which some want to lock him up.
“
Ecology has been kidnapped by the radicals and there is no offer today in France for those who are interested in these questions without wanting to tackle them in a radical way
”, judges the former figure of the Greens, party of which he was secretary general in 2005.
To define this too radical approach to ecology which he condemns, the former support of Valérie Pécresse during the last presidential election denounces a posture.
That of those who “
refuse all progress on the grounds that things are not going fast enough
”.
To the strategy of the supporters of the "
status quo"
, he opposes a more pragmatic approach.
He illustrates his point by referring to a recent regional debate.
"
Last week, when I proposed our climate change adaptation plan - which notably provided for 5,000 hectares of waterproofing, a climate shelter less than 10 minutes from each Ile-de-France resident and two million replanted trees, the only group that voted against is that of the Greens.
When you refuse everything, nothing advances.
That's radicalism
."
Right to Horizons
The party "Les Écolos" already has friends in the center and on the right, up to the Horizons party of Édouard Philippe.
Among its seven vice-presidents, we find elected LR Ile-de-France officials such as Florence Portelli, mayor of Taverny, or Vincent Jeanbrun, mayor of Haÿ-les-Roses.
"
Everyone sees it in a good
light", assures Yann Wherling, without hiding his desire to develop a "
structured environmentalist partner
", ready to engage in the next electoral battles - municipal in mind.
The question of political coalitions will arise later but “Les Écolos” first want to exist to propose ideas and be able to weigh in when the time comes.
Besides, their president is already thinking of 2027.
The overall scheme of this presidential election will be set out as follows: how to avoid Marine Le Pen without being forced to vote Jean-Luc Mélenchon
", summarizes Yann Wehrling, before adding: "
In any case, I am going to fight so that ecology have an important place in the majority that will be built after 2027
”.
For the elected official, who was also secretary general of the Modem (party with which his relations are now " non-
existent
"), but who has always defined himself under the label "
ecologist centrist
", the fight for the environment certainly requires a ability to exert pressure, but it is important to act "
from within
" by being able to "
negotiate compromises
".
He therefore launched his party last weekend in Paris, in the presence of two “
historical figures of political ecology
”: Brice Lalonde and Daniel Cohn-Bendit.
“
The first was a minister and ambassador like me on environmental issues, the second claims an ecology of compromises,
“Explains the new president of the” Ecologists “.
Where is the environmental policy in Paris?
Ex-elected in Paris, where the environmental partners of the socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo are delighted with the place taken by bicycles, Yann Wehrling observes the situation critically.
“
Apart from this promise of the bicycle which finally advanced during the municipal campaign of June 2020, I have always noticed that the ecological policy of Paris, we are still looking for it.
No vegetation, very few peaceful neighborhoods... The total congestion of the city by the car is proof of the enormous distance that exists between what is said and what is done
,” he accuses.
From his experience as French ambassador delegated to the environment between 2018 and 2021, the one who was chosen for this post and then dismissed by Emmanuel Macron, keeps a bitter memory.
First, he found that this mission was impossible.
“
These are positions without resources.
We are only readers of ready-made speeches
”, he regrets, before deploring the “
more than disappointing
” quality of his relationship with the presidential majority.
"
Everything I had tried to do to be constructive was dismissed by Macronie
".
He compares his disappointment to that of other elected officials such as ex-LREM Cédric Villani or Matthieu Orphelin.
"
I have a problem today with the way Emmanuel Macron perceives ecology: he sees it as a technical subject when it is a political question
, ”he confides.
In matters of ecology, the new political balances in the Assembly do not inspire him any more confidence.
“
I am very worried about the capacity of the government to move forward on these subjects, in the context of a majority that it no longer has.
I have the impression, unfortunately, that they will no longer have much leeway
, ”analyzes the leader of the “Ecolos”.
