People in rural areas feel the CO2 price already, now we have to help them adapt - Saathoff (SPD)
Johann Saathoff hails from the rural shores of East Frisia in north western Germany where, as mayor to the municipality of Krummh枚rn, he has been involved in the energy transition, for example the establishment of wind parks, long before the faster expansion of renewables and ways to include citizens in the process made it on to the national agenda. Since 2013 Saathoff has been the from the area to the federal parliament (Bundestag) where he is a member of the Committee on Economic Affairs and 麻豆无码版. This has put him in the thick of parliament鈥檚 negotiations when reforming the Renewable 麻豆无码版 Act (EEG) that is to ensure more renewable installations throughout Germany. At the same time he鈥檚 keeping an ear open for the concerns of those living in the countryside, their worries about e-cars, and rising CO2 costs for heating and driving.
麻豆无码版 has taken a good look at the party programmes of the main competing parties in September鈥檚 general election. We wanted to know from their MPs what they consider to be the most important climate and energy issues that need to be tackled by the next government and how they plan to flesh out the ideas presented in the election programmes.
麻豆无码版: The IPCC report has just stressed the urgency of climate action. Germany's Climate Action Law was only recently tightened.聽 Are even greater efforts necessary 鈥� and possible?
Johann Saathoff: Yes, I believe they are necessary. In our programme for the future, we Social Democrats have made a major commitment to the goal of climate neutrality in 2045, and for this we need the corresponding measures. I am rather doubtful that we will achieve the goals with the current set of instruments. It is clear that we need an increased expansion of renewable energies, prioritising wind energy as a driving force. And we need a clear promotion of hydrogen infrastructure and lots of other measures. In many areas, we are on the right track. In the field of electricity we have made clear progress, but in the field of transport progress is still limited 鈥� that has to be said clearly. In my constituency there is a VW plant that is currently being converted to electric car production. I hope this will happen quickly, and I also see that demand for electric cars is increasing. But I am very concerned about the heating sector, where we have simply achieved far too little and the renovation rate should be much, much higher. Low hanging fruits have not been identified and used. There are still far too few solar installations on roofs in cities.
The SPD was involved in everything that happened or didn't happen in the last government. 聽What does your party want to do better or differently in a next government?
It is certainly no secret that we have not always been on friendly terms with the CDU-CSU throughout our grand coalition. We have had a great deal of dissent in energy transition policy over the past four years. While the