"It's undemocratic," the FDP man throws at the climate activist

When weatherman Sven Plöger was skiing at the beginning of January this year, it looked "like the end of August". At plus twelve degrees he "shredded over the ice on an artificial snow slope" and thought: "Never again". The meteorologist told this anecdote to the guests on Monday evening on the talk show "Hart aber fair".

The topic of the program - climate change - was emotionally charged, the guests of the evening met with very different positions. The President of the Association of the Automotive Industry, Hildegard Müller, described the debate about a speed limit as "symbolic politics".

The CDU politician Gitta Connemann and the deputy leader of the FDP parliamentary group, Konstantin Kuhle, in turn appeared almost desperate in the face of the statements by climate activist Aimée von Baalen and the understanding of democracy they expressed.

Moderator Louis Klamroth, on the other hand, was already criticized in the run-up to the show. At a Broadcasting Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday, members of the committee plan to engage in an unusually sharp confrontation with the broadcaster's top management. The question is whether Klamroth should have made his relationship with climate activist Luisa Neubauer transparent earlier. On the talk show itself, he didn't say anything about it.

Artificial snow could not be the answer to the rising temperatures, Plöger made it clear at the beginning of the program: "In the long run I'm just harming the environment," said the meteorologist. He has now decided to only ski in snow-reliable areas, "when there is mostly natural snow".

A different perspective was more important to the CDU member of the Bundestag Gitta Connemann: "It is also true that tourism through skiing has also brought wealth to a region that was previously poor." She sees the discussion as a "scapegoat debate". : "Whether someone is going to the Maldives to surf there, or to a ski area relatively close by" - in this question the "CO₂ balance in the ski area is perhaps even better".

In the climate protection plan, the transport sector clearly missed the targets for 2021, according to Connemann. According to the Federal Environment Agency, more than three million tons more CO₂ than planned were emitted in Germany. Initial projections showed that the target for 2022 was missed even more.

Konstantin Kuhle defended his party colleague and Transport Minister Volker Wissing: “That is because we cannot look at the transport sector in isolation. People can very easily adjust their consumption behavior or change their electricity provider.” However, you cannot simply give up a car after two or three years.

"I see that Mr. Wissing could do more," Plöger replied flatly and changed the subject: "I think it's schizophrenic that we don't manage to set a speed limit in Germany."

You need “stricter climate protection in the transport sector by introducing a strict CO₂ limit,” replied Kuhle. But he contradicted Plöger's demand: "We don't need a speed limit." Legal measures must be well justified, according to the FDP man: "That showed us that you have to think carefully about what you're doing."

"And that's why they are now taking even less sufficient measures?" interrupted von Baalen, who speaks for the "last generation". When Klamroth pointed out that 84 percent of the German population did not think it was justified to temporarily block roads and traffic, von Baalen replied: "Civil resistance has never been popular." She emphasized that her organization "interrupted everyday life as often as possible " will.

The CDU and FDP were unanimous in rejecting the “last generation”: “Anyone who really wants to do something for climate protection is not stuck,” said Connemann. Kuhle added: "Every day you lose people from the middle of society". Moderator Plöger would not stick to the street himself, as he made clear – but at the same time he showed understanding for the actions: "It has a lot to do with desperation."

Finally, von Baalen steered the discussion towards a proposal from the “Last Generation” who want to install a “social council”. For this body, people would be selected by lottery and given the right to decide in “emergency meetings” “which measures will then actually be implemented”.

"We get advice, we deal with experts every day," Connemann replied: "That's how politics works." FDP man Kuhle continued: "That opens the floodgates to the arbitrary state."

At the end of the program he became even clearer: “The German Bundestag makes the decisions in Germany because it is democratically legitimized by elections, and by the entire population. You can't draw people by random and endow them with the power to decide the weal and woe of the whole country. That is undemocratic.”