“Now is the end”
Lindner puts a stop to the debate about nuclear power plant runtimes
11/02/2022 10:52 p.m
In view of the Ukraine war, there is great concern about Germany’s energy security – especially when the nuclear power plants go offline by April at the latest. However, Federal Finance Minister Lindner no longer wants to discuss longer maturities. It has been decided, he says, and promises a “backup solution” for emergencies.
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner does not want to discuss further the nuclear power plant terms in the coalition. “Because that’s just decided now. You have to say, now is the end,” said the FDP leader at an event of the weekly newspaper “Die Zeit” in Berlin. When asked whether Germany would be able to do without nuclear power after the last three nuclear power plants were shut down in April, Lindner replied: “I assume and we’re doing everything we can to do that.” He went on to say that he “would have put a back-up solution on the farm just to be on the safe side”.
At the end of October, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz decided with a word of power that the remaining three nuclear power plants should continue to be operated until April 15th. This was preceded by a long dispute between Lindner and Economics Minister Robert Habeck. Now it is the Bundestag’s turn, which could agree in the second week of November. The Federal Council could deal with the plans at a special meeting at the end of November or a little earlier.
Lindner also confirmed his initiative to develop the German deposits of so-called fracking gas. He is “absolutely of the opinion” that Germany must achieve greenhouse gas neutrality by 2045. However, as far as he knows, “no one doubts that we still need oil and gas temporarily”, but the supply situation is “not secured at present” due to the Russian war against Ukraine. “I think it’s good advice to use what we have on land and in the North Sea,” said Lindner, referring to the controversial production of shale gas because of its harmful effects on the environment.
The Federal Minister of Finance also praised the 49-euro ticket decided by the federal and state governments in the evening. “This is fantastic”. For such a “great innovation and for this mobility” you can also ask for a reasonable price.
A nationwide 49-euro monthly ticket for buses and trains in local and regional transport will be available for millions of passengers in the coming year. At consultations in Berlin, the federal and state governments agreed on open financing issues for local public transport. The “Deutschlandticket” is to be introduced as quickly as possible, with the aim of starting in January.