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“We have to get out of fossil addiction. We have to detoxify ourselves in Germany”

With the “Green Seven Week”, ProSieben has been trying to raise an environmental profile for years.

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“We have to get out of fossil addiction. We have to detoxify ourselves in Germany”

With the “Green Seven Week”, ProSieben has been trying to raise an environmental profile for years. At the end of this year's theme week, Linda Zervakis and Louis Klamroth discussed the necessary course setting to end Germany's energy dependency on Monday evening. In the somewhat awkwardly titled "The ProSieben Politics Show" they welcomed Jens Spahn (CDU), Kevin Kühnert (SPD), Katrin Göring-Eckardt (Greens), Kristina Dunz from the editorial network Germany and Claudia Kemfert from the German Institute for Economic Research.

To begin with, the moderators focused on their guests as private individuals with irrelevant personal questions. Which energy tips does Kristina Dunz find "most beautiful"? Does Jens Spahn still think about his energy consumption “as a person, as a private individual”? Zervakis asked the panel and studio audience with a show of hands whether they were already heating the room, taking shorter showers, using a washcloth or worried about the price development. An objectification only took place when a craft baker drew attention to the concerns of the middle class.

The monthly electricity and heating costs in its five branches have risen from 9,000 to 20,000 euros. "We're falling by the wayside," he said, warning politicians to "help as quickly as possible." But when asked when the longed-for electricity price brake could be expected, Kühnert asked for understanding. The aim is to provide both quick and customized support. "Taking both of these together presents us with major challenges." Göring-Eckardt put the baker off in equal measure: "It's taking so long because it's actually complex."

Spahn used the time aspect as a template: “It takes so long because this summer was wasted,” he attacked the traffic light government, which “put three months of political power into a gas levy” that “would have made it more expensive”. Claudia Kemfert, on the other hand, blamed the previous governments: "We are paying the price for the delayed energy transition." Only by turning away from fossil gas would it be possible to lower prices. Göring-Eckardt agreed: “We have to get out of fossil addiction. We have to detoxify ourselves in Germany.”

The interim report of the expert commission on gas and heat was also discussed. This recommends capping the gas price and the government taking over the payments on account for December. "We won't do it any worse than that," promised Kühnert. He honestly tried to explain the concept, but was confronted by Linda Zervakis with Twitter commentators who expressed their incomprehension. "You can understand it, but you don't have to - and still get the gas price brake in the end. That's the great thing about the system," he replied succinctly.

"The concept is good. We will look at it, but we are very open to it," said Jens Spahn, who was satisfied with the expert commission's proposal. “Of course, if the concept comes up, it will have our support. It would have been nicer earlier." Kemfert considered relief to be "right and good", but also saw risks: "If we cap the prices now, there is a risk that not enough will be saved." The task for the winter is to Saving 20 percent of the gas, otherwise companies would have to be shut down at the beginning of 2023.

In addition to the acute energy crisis, the second half of the round focuses on the major energy transition project. Claudia Kemfert laments the mess left behind by the CDU due to the lack of expansion of renewable energies. From now on, no federal state may refuse. Solar and wind energy, biomass plants, hydroelectric power and pumped storage plants would have to be used in combination. “Renewable energies are team players. They only work together, not alone.” In this way, energy costs could be halved.

Spahn referred to the high density of wind turbines. The further expansion failed mainly due to nature and monument protection. "Red kites and species protection have prevented more wind turbines than any policy could have done." Kevin Kühnert immediately countered: "Many in the CDU/CSU have never felt so much love for animals as at the moment when they were used to prevent wind turbines Spahn reacted defiantly to the SPD general secretary's attempts at differentiation: "If we didn't make it together then."

It was one of the rare exchanges of blows in the almost two-hour "ProSieben Politics Show", which the moderators too often slowed down themselves with tweets or consumer tips. In the end, the designated Plasberg successor, Klamroth, warmed up for his upcoming engagement in “Hart aber fair” with a conciliatory final lap. "Do you still believe that Germany will be climate-neutral in 2045?" he asked Claudia Kemfert, who gave the desired confident answer: "Yes, especially now."

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