“Are we all tree-huggers now?“

Germans generally accept the idea that an energy transition costs money, but they are opposed to wasting money, Johannes Teyssen, manager of energy company E.ON, said in a joint interview with Green Party head Cem Özdemir in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. Özdemir said that the Merkel government had made mistakes in the implementation of the energy transition, but highlighted that it helped the breakthrough of climate-friendly technologies. Özdemir and Teyssen agreed that Germany hasn’t done enough to curb greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power stations, and both said that a European CO₂ tax would make renewable energy more competitive.

See a CLEW factsheet on what energy and climate stakeholders want from Germany’s next government here, and on the parties’ energy policies here.