Dear readers,
You never know exactly which of their proposals top politicians will one day actually implement and how high the proportion of PR and passion is in some of the advances.
Especially not a few months before a federal election.
Nevertheless, it is revealing how differently Markus Söder and Armin Laschet position themselves in dealing with the climate crisis.
And every difference could still be important - should one of the two actually become German Chancellor in the most important decade in terms of climate policy.
There has been a lot of movement in the Union's K-question since the CDU boss seems to be getting weaker and weaker in popularity and assertiveness and Bavaria's prime minister seems to be getting stronger (the background in the new SPIEGEL cover story).
Whatever the outcome of the race between these two, the Union candidate must convince as large a majority of German citizens as possible in September in order to succeed Angela Merkel.
And this is where the climate comes into play.
The Greens, who stand for the ecological transformation like no other party, are flying at record highs in the polls.
According to the latest surveys, they would finish with 21 to 23 percent of the vote, just a few points behind the Union if they were to vote now.
Opinion researchers now estimate the potential of voters to be almost higher than that of the Union.
This is likely to have something to do with the weakness of the other parties, the Union's mask affair and the ongoing weakness of the SPD, but certainly not only.
It would be wrong to explain the Greens' poll success completely independently of their program.
Söder wants a green deal
The Conservative candidate for chancellor should at least be able to make the voters a basic offer in terms of ecology, so as not to leave the field entirely to the Greens.
Who would have the better chance?
Markus Söder can be attested that he has fundamentally recognized the importance of the climate issue for his own election success.
In an interview with my colleagues Anna Clauss, Christoph Hickmann and Veit Medick, the Bavarian not only touched on the “central challenge of our age”, as he calls it, but also named key points.
Söder is promoting a market-ecological tax reform, a Green Deal for Germany, and a photovoltaic requirement on new buildings, on all government buildings and on motorways.
Söder had already tried to set accents two years ago.
Even if there is still a lack of consistent climate protection at home in Bavaria, Söder is clearly making an effort to address the issue.
Armin Laschet is completely different.
Climate protection is clearly not his topic and if it is, the Rhinelander appears above all as a concern.
He recently warned of "excessive" measures that threatened to ruin the industry and of overly expensive electricity.
"If the steel industry moves to China and produces the steel there, the world climate is not served."
And Laschet?
Not clear
In January, Laschet and Jens Spahn presented a ten-topic impulse paper as part of his candidacy as CDU leader.
Climate only appears once in the upper points - in the phrase “Good climate for entrepreneurship and innovation”.
The reader did not find out how a Chancellor Armin Laschet wants to concretely tackle the climate crisis.
Other party members are further.
A few days ago a new group was formed within the CDU that wants to advance the climate issue: the association of the »KlimaUnion«.
The initiators include the CDU federal board member Wiebke Winter, the ex-Tesla manager Philipp Schröder and the bicycle activist and entrepreneur Heinrich Strossenreuther.
»The aim must be for us to achieve the 1.5 degree target and become climate neutral in the next ten to twenty years.
That is what we want to campaign for in the Union, "Strosenreuther told SPIEGEL.
In an interview with Die Welt, Strossenreuther made a calculation that Markus Söder should also be familiar with: “I see it that at least a quarter of the Green voters are borrowed Union voters who care about climate protection so much that as a result, they have migrated to a party with which they otherwise have little connection.
We want to bring these people back with a convincing and ambitious climate protection policy. "
If the plan works, he could decide on the next chancellorship.
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Professional Treehugger: Markus Söder, here in 2020, would have a competitive advantage over Armin Laschet on the climate issue
Photo: Peter Kneffel / picture alliance / dpa
The topics of the week
Record CO₂ measurement in Hawaii: How our atmosphere is degenerating into a garbage dump
The climate crisis is worsening: The CO₂ content of the atmosphere is now over 50 percent higher than in pre-industrial times.
What is particularly frightening is the speed at which new records are being reached.
New party group: »KlimaUnion« wants to change the polarity of the
CDU According to SPIEGEL information, some entrepreneurs and CDU politicians want to promote climate policy among the Christian Democrats.
The project should also be preparation for a possible black-green coalition in the federal government.
Hydrogen, corn and sugar cane as fuel: How we'll fly - and what it costs
Researchers and engineers are looking for clean alternatives to kerosene.
They are not yet practical.
And they make traveling a lot more expensive.
Military expert on climate wars: "Water will be the new oil"
They called him the "green general": Tom Middendorp has seen the consequences of climate change for global security on numerous missions abroad.
Now the Dutchman wants to warn the world about it.
Turning away from oil: Norwegian pension fund invests in marine
wind farm
for the first time
Norway's oil fund now also wants to go green: The sovereign wealth fund, one of the largest in the world, is investing almost 1.4 billion euros in an offshore wind farm.
It is therefore very much in line with the trend.
Atmospheric chemist on controversial project: How researchers want to switch off the sun
Humankind is failing to
reduce
CO₂ emissions.
The German Harvard scientist Frank Keutsch explains why he now wants to sprinkle lime into the atmosphere with a balloon.
Svalbard and Arctic tourism: "People pay a lot of money to see glaciers melt"
Line Nagell Ylvisåker lives on Svalbard in the far north of Norway - and is a witness of climate change there.
She explains how dramatically her homeland has changed and what travel has to do with it.
Stay confident
Your Kurt Stukenberg
