Dear FOCUS online reader,
“In Germany we have to build four to five wind turbines, more than 40 football pitches of photovoltaic systems, 1,600 heat pumps and four kilometers of transmission grids every day. (…) This is the path, and we are walking this path together.” Those were the words of the Federal Chancellor last Sunday at the opening of the Hanover Fair – on the first day on which Germany has managed without energy from nuclear power plants for more than 60 years had to.
But the reality is different: In the first year of the traffic light, 2022, exactly 551 new onshore wind turbines were connected to the grid. And now four to five systems a day? 1,600 and more per year? There is no other way to put it: the government lives more and more in a world of illusion, in the fantasy land of energy and economic policy. In one of the most serious energy crises of the past decades, it is getting out of nuclear energy and is taking a huge risk in our country’s energy supply without needing it.
Public acceptance is lacking
At the same time, she announces expansion targets for wind and solar energy that are far from being feasible. Almost all the prerequisites are missing to build wind turbines, solar panels, heat pumps and transmission networks on this scale. There is a lack of land, there are no permits, there are no production capacities and, above all, there is a lack of acceptance by the population.
The unrealistic assessment of expansion targets can then always be filed in a government’s wishful thinking folder. Such a policy becomes a nuisance when it turns into the authoritarian attitude of an authoritarian state. And that is exactly what happened again on Wednesday of this week with the adoption of the “Building Energy Act” in the Federal Cabinet. Not only does it remain the case that from 2024 the installation of new gas heaters will be de facto banned, including those that are hydrogen-capable.
Those who do not switch to heat pumps in time are also confronted with threats of draconian fines of up to 50,000 euros. Is the Federal Government actually aware of the insecurities that such a policy triggers in the population? Do the traffic light coalition still have a feeling for how such announcements are received by average earners in private households, by families with children and especially by older people?
Also read: New coalition crash threatens – Habeck’s heating hammer is coming, but the next topic is already boiling
Ampel has no confidence in the common sense of the citizens
It would have been better to leave the conversion of private households to climate-friendly heating systems as decided by the last federal government: with appropriate support for private households and firm trust in the mechanisms of action of the European regulations for the future pricing of CO2 emissions.
With CO2 pricing, the costs for oil and gas will gradually increase from 2026, and the installation of alternative, CO2-free heating systems will become more and more economically attractive for private households. However, the state would also give the owners the freedom to choose the technology and leave room for the latest technological developments.
But the traffic light government simply does not have this trust in the mechanisms of action of a market economy and at the same time in the common sense of the citizens of our country. She prefers to regulate down to the smallest detail, she makes detailed regulations and threatens fines in the event of disobedience. Frustration among the population is increasing, acceptance of climate protection is decreasing – and the FDP is doing everything.
The political decisions of this week show that we will now have to intensify our disputes with the traffic light government. And we will no longer conduct the discussions alone in Parliament. The CDU and CSU are preparing public debates and protests against the traffic light policy in all constituencies. We are constructive opposition. But enough is enough.
Best regards
Yours Friedrich Merz
