Green "plucked" in traffic light poker? Habeck contradicts: "It was already there before"

The Greens are under pressure after the traffic light compromise - the German environmental aid is also up in arms.

But Robert Habeck sees no defeat for his party.

Berlin - Are the Greens the big losers in the compromise of the traffic light coalition committee?

The CSU taunts publicly.

But Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck strongly disagreed in a TV interview on Wednesday (March 29).

The new situation in terms of heating rules, for example, is "more of a confirmation" for his party.

Greens under pressure: Habeck denies defeat – "That was already in there before"

The claim that he had suffered a defeat in the coalition committee when he revised his heating plans was simply “wrong” and “off the matter,” Habeck told the

broadcaster .

The coalition has agreed to confirm "what we have already decided beforehand," he said: "That we will go for new heating systems and for the replacement of 65 percent renewable energy from next year." The coalition will do that, " as the law already provides, to be open to technology.

That was there before," he said.

"Basically, this is more of a confirmation of what we set out to do."

Heating confusion after traffic light compromise - Habeck: "But if you rely on it - please!"

Like Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Habeck also defended the content of the traffic light coalition's heating plans.

A heat pump is just one of many options, said the Green politician.

Hydrogen heaters are also conceivable, but in practice they would hardly be used anyway because they are simply far too expensive.

"All possibilities are there, so district heating systems, heating with biogenic fuels," said Habeck, adding: "For my sake also hydrogen, which is not available at the moment.

But whoever bets on it - four times as expensive, I guess - please!" Already in the Tuesday evening talk by "Markus Lanz" there was confusion about the new rules.

The question of whether hydrogen - or eco-gas - are realistic options for heating renewals was also countered by Scholz on Wednesday in his government survey in the Bundestag.

"At no point did anyone plan that someone would have to do something that you can't do," he emphasized in response to a statement by the AfD.

There will be an unbureaucratic regulation, nobody will have to worry.

Greens harvest CSU mockery: "Pretty plucked"

CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt saw the situation very differently.

His impression is "that the Greens leave this event pretty plucked," he told the broadcasters RTL and ntv.

He was also skeptical about the heating issue.

He could “not yet really imagine” the design of a hardship regulation.

When it comes to heating, "yes, it's about purchases that will be the biggest purchases that most people can make," he said.

"It's about several 10,000 euros when replacing the heating system."

Dobrindt also emphasized that Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) had not made any budget available.

Instead, Lindner pointed out that the obligation to replace the heaters is now off the table.

"I'm curious to see what the 'traffic light' will really agree on at this point, and whether it will stay the way it was announced yesterday, that there is no longer an obligation to exchange," said Dobrindt.

Greens now the big traffic light loser: environmental aid sees "disaster"

There was also criticism from all sides regarding the importance of climate protection.

The traffic light coalition has decided to reverse the law of the grand coalition of 2021 when it comes to climate protection, criticized Union parliamentary group Vice Thorsten Frei (CDU) on NDR.

“There should be no sector-specific consideration of the savings targets, and the year-specific perspective will also be eliminated.

That means a strong relativization and softening of what we already had,” he said.

In the Bundestag, Scholz referred to planned concrete improvements on this issue - for example for charging stations for electric cars.

However, harsh criticism was also voiced by environmentalists, which was unpleasant for the Greens.

The German Environmental Aid (DUH) criticized the softening of the climate protection law as a "disaster".

In the transport sector, too, "the horror news can hardly be counted," explained DUH Federal Managing Director Jürgen Resch.

Scholz is in favor of the climate protection law being "gutted", said Greenpeace board member Martin Kaiser.

The further expansion of the Autobahn will “drive the climate further up against the wall”.

The managing director of WWF Germany, Christoph Heinrich, spoke of a "frontal attack on the climate protection law".

The new traffic light climate plans

Sector requirements:

The Climate Protection Act is to be reworked in key points.

Instead of the hitherto strict annual emission targets for individual areas such as energy, industry, transport and buildings, it should be possible to compensate for missed targets in one sector in another.

In principle, however, the sector targets should remain in place.

Year-spanning consideration:

Instead of fixed annual goals, a longer period of time should be looked at more strongly.

To this end, a government should present a comprehensive program in the first year of each legislative period.

A "cross-sectoral and multi-annual accounting" should be in the foreground.

If targets are missed, however, improvements should be proposed, above all from the sectors responsible for them.

Climate goals:

It is confirmed that Germany should be climate-neutral by 2045.

European emissions trading, including its planned extension to other sectors, in particular buildings and transport, is to be decisive for this.

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