Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel told the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, that the time had come to act. “We have all witnessed the dangers of climate change in the last few months. We only saw winter in the calendar in
Gabriel reminded the MPs that
But the Environment Minister went further, proposing an eight-point plan that includes cutting
“We should set ourselves the goal of making
Efficiency From
Bottom Up
The Social Democrat minister also encouraged Germans to take the train more often as part of the effort. Gabriel told the German tabloid Bild Zeitung on Thursday that he plans to further subsidize
“We must ensure that train services are able to compete with air travel,“ Gabriel said, and suggested that train tickets should qualify for a sales tax break that would allow the Deutsche Bahn AG to reduce ticket prices for consumers.
“There is no tax on airline fuel, but the rail operator must pay the full value-added tax on the sale of long-distance tickets,“ Gabriel complained to the Bundestag. “That is unfair and cannot remain that way.“
Green Power
Gabriel also unveiled plans to modernize power stations across
The German government under Chancellor Angela Merkel has agreed to generate over a quarter of its power from environmentally friendly sources by 2020, according to Gabriel. Wind turbines, photovoltaic (solar) panels and biofuels are some of the most common forms of green energy, and they have become a formidable market force in
But Gabriel criticized the government’s tacit approval of plans to build almost 30 new coal power plants on German soil, and he further attacked the conservative camp for advocating nuclear power as a “green“ alternative. Nuclear power plants emit near-zero greenhouse gases, but nuclear waste and the possibility of a meltdown pose a different kind of environmental threat.
Investing in Efficiency
Gabriel’s program would cost the German government three billion euros ($4.1 billion) over the next three years, according to the Environment Ministry’s own estimates. The program aims to slash 270 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Despite the country’s long tradition of progressive green policies,
A German economic think-tank recently calculated that the consequences of unfettered climate change would cost
Global Deadlock
Environmental protection groups welcomed Gabriel’s plans, which they described as ambitious, but cautioned that words had to be followed by action.
But Gabriel warned that
PIN/ DW-WORLD.DE
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