“It is very likely that not all of these 144 motorway projects will be built in an accelerated manner in the end,” Lang told the newspapers of the Funke media group (Saturday). Planning will “only be accelerated if the responsible countries say: We want that,” she added. The Greens are currently involved in twelve state governments. With the foreseeable CDU/SPD coalition in Berlin, it would then be eleven.
Lang on coalition results: “We are not meeting the climate targets in transport”
It makes sense to check individual projects on site, emphasized Lang. “For example, whether projects that are already planned will reduce traffic jams or the risk of accidents and should therefore be tackled more quickly. Or whether you should look at a project again, for example for environmental reasons or because of noise protection for residents.”
In the coalition committee, the SPD, Greens and FDP had agreed on a 16-page paper that, among other things, provides for the accelerated expansion of the motorways at 144 points, billions in investments in the rail network and a relaxation of climate protection rules. Lang complained that with the decisions of the coalition committee “we are not meeting the climate targets in transport”. “There remains a gap that needs solutions,” she emphasized
At the same time, Lang advocated a speed limit on motorways, “even if it hardly seems possible in this coalition,” she added. “A speed limit on motorways is one of the quickest and easiest measures for more safety and climate protection,” said the Greens leader.
Lang was “surprised” by the SPD – and reminds Scholz of important promises
She wishes that “all three traffic light partners feel a special responsibility for climate protection” and “then act specifically,” said the co-chair of the Greens. In particular, she was “a bit surprised” by the attitude of the SPD at the most recent coalition summit. The now changed climate protection law was “a success of the grand coalition”.
With a view to the promise made by current Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) before the 2021 federal elections to become a “climate chancellor”, Lang told the Funke newspapers: “Olaf Scholz has to decide for himself whether he will live up to his promise.” The continued existence according to his own statements, however, Lang does not see the traffic light coalition as endangered. The SPD, FDP and Greens would “govern together in the traffic light for the next two and a half years, despite differences in content”.
