“Lindner’s coal”

German politicians might appear more concerned with halting global climate change than the current US administration, but in reality they have done little in recent years to actually improve their country’s climate record, Philip Bethge writes in Der Spiegel. “Why doesn’t anyone tell voters that their fat diesel SUVs are a problem? Why doesn’t anyone denounce the government for adamantly clinging to coal?”, Bethge asks. Germany will likely miss its 2020 climate targets by a wide margin – which makes shutting down coal plants and preparing a combustion engine phase-out a necessity, but voters are kept in the dark about all this, he argues. The only politician who merits praise for his frankness is Christian Lindner, head of the economic liberal FDP, Bethge says. The FDP was “against the Renewables Act, fixed emissions reduction goals and state intervention to phase out combustion engines. There’s not a more sustainable option to ruin the planet”.

Read the article in German here (behind paywall).

See the CLEW interview Dieselgate and climate fears fail to ignite voters’ passion – pollster and the CLEW factsheet German parties’ energy & climate policy positions for background.