In order for Germany to keep its climate protection promises, Environment Minister Svenja Schulze (50, SPD) wants to bring all Germans to save CO2 with a new levy.
Anyone who produces harmful exhaust gases while driving and heating should feel this in their wallet. Who saves CO2 – z. B. by an electric car – should save money.
It now comes „to oath,“ Schulze had said on Wednesday evening at the Berlin Humboldt University: „Are we serious about climate change or are we muddling through?“
It was time for a „new chapter“ in environmental policy. An expensive chapter! Although Schulze announced that she wanted to prevent a net additional burden on the citizens by electricity in return may be cheaper. With Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (60, SPD), she is working on a concept to give CO2 a „price“ for every citizen.
As if gasoline and heating oil had not long been a HIGH price – of possibly up to 2 € / liter of gasoline, as market observers fear.
But the fact is: no later than two years, the failure of the EU-wide climate targets for the federal government is really expensive. Shortly before the last general election, the Ministry of the Environment had agreed to a new EU penal catalog: From 2020, Germany may have to pay billions if CO2 emissions do not drop quickly enough.
By 2030, according to BILD information could be up to 30 billion euros! Money to come out of our wallet?
For areas such as transport, agriculture or energy would then receive binding CO2 reduction targets. „We will achieve our climate goals by 2030 without a CO2 tax,“ said Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner (45, CDU) to BILD. „My ministry has prepared a catalog of measures. Three key points in this are: the increased use of manure for energy purposes, the expansion of organic farming and the tightened fertilization rules that we have already adopted. All this shows that there is no binding requirement for a CO2 tax in agriculture. “
„A CO2 price in Germany must not lead to an additional burden on consumers,“ warns Klaus Müller, head of the Federation of Consumer Organizations. With a new CO2 levy, such as Sweden has since the 90s, there must be „a simultaneous refund to consumers and a reduction in the price of electricity“.
Even the homeowner association „House and Reason“ warns: „With a CO2 tax housing in Germany would be massively more expensive for everyone.“
Mieterbund managing director Ulrich Ropertz sees the plans critically: „Basically, we are not negatively affected by a CO2 tax. But: the goal of a CO2 tax is that consumers switch from fossil fuels (oil, gas) to renewable energies. However, this goal can not be achieved in the rental housing sector.
Because: Only the tenant would carry the higher heating costs, and has no influence on how the house is heated. The landlord, who would influence it, is not affected by this increase in energy prices. If you introduce the CO2 tax, you need a special regulation for the rented housing area: the landlord pays the CO2 tax, the tenant bears the previous costs. “
Retrofit premium for older diesel cars
Compromise between Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) and the German automakers: VW and Daimler want to support the owners older diesel with up to 3000 euros, if they can convert their car with a hardware solution.
BMW rejects conversions, but wants to pay the same amount to the holders of older diesel, which are also affected by driving bans after 2020 – for a new purchase.
However, this only applies in the 15 cities in Germany, in which pollutant limits are exceeded particularly strong. Surface-wide hardware retrofits are according to Scheuer „not short-term“ available, the costs are uncertain.
