Christian Lindner argues like Donald Trump
Shortly before the start of the 29th UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, the German finance minister, Christian Lindner, has made it clear what he thinks of climate protection in his latest economic paper: nothing! On 5 November, Michael Bauchmüller wrote in the Süddeutsche Zeitung: ‘Climate? I don’t care.’
In response to the first actions of the Fridays For Future movement in 2019, Lindner had scoffed that climate was ‘a matter for professionals’. The young demonstrators simply understood too little about it. But what does Christian Lindner understand about it today?
In his economic paper, he proposes leaving all climate protection to the market: All regulations on energy efficiency, the Renewable Energy Sources Act, regulations for climate protection in buildings and in transport should be cancelled. He no longer wants anything to do with the coal phase-out by 2035, although the coalition agreement states that the phase-out should take place as early as possible. Natural gas is to be increasingly subsidised. Michael Bauchmüller: ‘What Lindner is propagating is not a turnaround, but a step backwards.’
In doing so, the German finance minister is not only ignoring all the scientific evidence of dramatic climate change at a time when the climate catastrophe is causing ever greater billions in damage worldwide and ever greater human suffering, as is currently the case in Spain. He is also disregarding the climate requirements of the German Federal Constitutional Court from 2021.
Where money is concerned, power is always at stake as well. The five largest publicly listed oil companies in the world are a huge force: ExxonMobil (USA), Shell (UK), Chevron (USA), Total (France) and BP (UK). These ‘big five’ alone made a combined profit of $200 billion in 2022. Profit, not turnover! This is an all-time record – even though the consequences of climate change have been known for decades. The 29 world climate conferences held so far have essentially had only one result: the climate is getting worse and worse. The Earth’s temperature continues to rise today – despite the positive development of renewable energies.
In addition to the ‘Big Five’ mentioned above, the automotive and aviation industries, as well as companies that build and sell oil and gas heating systems, are among the major profiteers of the climate catastrophe. For them, there will only be partial alternatives in the future: You can build cars that run on electricity and planes or ships that use green hydrogen to fly, or heat pumps that replace gas boilers, but the only option for an oil company that no longer produces oil is to go bankrupt.
In this situation, Christian Linder wants to help the German economy. He is achieving the exact opposite, as the situation of the German automotive industry amply demonstrates. Life and a backward-looking economy punish those who are late. The future does not belong to gas and coal, but to renewable energies.
Christian Lindner’s arguments on climate are similar to those of Donald Trump in the USA. The climate problem is a matter of survival for humanity. It cannot be solved by denying and repressing it. Didn’t the German finance minister, like all other ministers, swear an oath to protect the German people? But with this chairman, an important German party is recklessly and cynically throwing the previous climate protection goals overboard.
klimareporter: The ten most important proposals in Lindner’s paper can be found here (german).
