Climate and transportation – a German alliance reaches an agreement after long negotiations

After three days of deliberations, the Traffic Light Alliance presented a comprehensive package of measures to implement climate protection goals and accelerate planning in Germany on Tuesday evening. On the other hand, planning for both the road and railway network should be greatly accelerated, the leaders of the Social Democratic Party, the Green Party and the Free Democratic Party said. On the other hand, according to Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP), nature conservation is fundamentally reformed.

According to SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil, the parliamentary groups also agreed on a social balance when switching from gas and oil heating to more climate-friendly heating. According to Lindner, traffic light decisions don’t have a significant impact on the budget. Heating conversion costs will be taken from the Climate and Transformation Fund. Green Leader Ricarda Lang spoke about the massive expansion of the railroads and the accompanying solar highway program. Truck fares will be increased from 2024, 80 percent of which will flow to the expansion of the railways.

Greater speed at electronic charging stations

An important component of the agreement is the change in climate protection law. “We are overcoming a purely sectoral orientation,” said FDP leader Lindner, above all with the aim of the faltering reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in the transport sector. “We make sure that sectors can help each other.” One no longer looks at goals annually and no longer looks back, but rather forward to about 2030. However, Greens leader Lang stressed that sector targets were kept as a rule of law. In the future, Lindner explained, it should also be possible to make cash payments for building measures instead of providing alternative areas.

The Traffic Light Alliance also wants to speed up the installation of e-charging stations. According to the paper from the coalition committee, gas station operators must be legally obligated to “construct at least one fast charging point for each gas station within five years.” However, there will be a special regulation for small gas station operators.

The traffic light recognizes the differences – and exits

Lang and Klingbeil admitted there have been significant differences in the Traffic Light Coalition in recent weeks. The leader of the Green Party found that the three parties were so different that they eventually negotiated compromises for society as a whole. Like Klingbeil, she criticized the coarse tone of the three parties. “I had no qualms about the partners’ credibility,” Lindner stated at the end of the joint press conference.

Some of the differences arose from the disagreement over whether the acceleration of planning should apply only to railway projects, or also to road projects. Lindner talked about 144 highway projects for which there should be acceleration in planning now. Lang pointed to the necessary integration with solar energy systems along the highway.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz had previously mentioned “very, very, very good results”. “I am very confident that we will be able to produce a large part of the work,” said the SPD politician. It is important now, as the fourth largest economy in the world, that you do everything right. It’s about speeding up the pace of decisions. “That’s why the effort makes sense. It will be worth it,” he stressed. (street)