NRW’s state premier to represent CDU on climate & energy in coalition talks

The Prime Minister of Germany’s most populous federal state North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Armin Laschet, will represent Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU party in the areas of climate, energy, and transport in the ‘Jamaica coalition’ talks, the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ) reports. In the talks with the pro-business FDP, the environmentalist Green Party, and the CDU’s Bavarian sister party CSU, Laschet is expected to particularly advocate for NRW’s interests. The economy of his state is greatly dependent on heavy, energy intensive industries, and on coal-fired power production. According to the article, in the past Laschet has repeatedly lashed out against a “banning mentality” with regard to coal and combustion engines - policies that the Green Party adamantly pursues.
Laschet’s government in NRW has recently caused a stir among renewable energy proponents by passing legislation that makes wind power expansion in the federal state much more difficult.

Find the article in German here.

See the CLEW factsheet The long road to a new government coalition in Germany for background.