“Runs quite well”: Habeck relies on heating breakthrough

Habeck and Scholz are optimistic that the heating law will be passed before the summer break. The FDP, however, reports a need for clarification – and the CDU immediately presents its own proposals.

Berlin – In the dispute over the heating law, the traffic light coalition “squeaks” from time to time, as Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) admitted on Saturday. But Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) was confident on Monday (June 5) that the controversial amendment to the law could be passed before the summer break, provided “all players play along benevolently.” Headwind comes from the coalition itself and from the opposition. The CDU politician Ralph Brinkhaus presented his own “seven-point plan” for the heat transition on Monday and Union parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn (CDU) even called for “other ways” in climate protection.

According to Habeck, talks behind the scenes are going well – the CDU politician is creating new headwind

The talks, which are now being continued behind the scenes, went “quite well,” said Habeck on Monday in Berlin. According to the Economics Minister, he sees no “fundamental problem” of getting a good law and a degree before the summer holidays. Scholz was also optimistic and spoke of “constructive” talks. The heating law was originally supposed to come into force at the turn of the year, but it would have to be passed before the parliamentary summer break. Now there are only three weeks of sittings left in the Bundestag and time is running out. The FDP has also already announced that there is a need for further clarification. From the Liberal point of view, an agreement before the summer break is unrealistic.

But headwinds are not only blowing within the coalition, the opposition also apparently sees a need for improvement in the heating law. The CDU politician Brinkhaus shared a seven-point plan for the heat transition on Twitter. The popularity of Brinkhaus’ proposal was initially moderate in the short message service, after more than seven hours the idea had a total of four “likes”. His party colleague Jens Spahn also argued against the heating law in the “ARD morning magazine” on Monday. There is neither a majority in society nor in parliament for this. “Climate protection can win a majority if it is done sensibly,” said Spahn.

Brinkhaus’ seven-point plan: “Urgently fewer regulations and restrictions”

In principle, Brinkhaus agreed that the “fight against the dangers of global warming and its consequences is the great task of mankind in this millennium”. He called for a non-partisan consensus that would offer citizens a “reliable planning perspective”. According to point two of the CDU politician, heat pumps are a key technology for achieving CO₂ neutrality. This requires a stable subsidy system for the heating conversion that all property owners can afford. Municipal heating planning is also crucial. “Where there is district heating, the municipalities and municipal utilities should get this up and running quickly,” was the politician’s third suggestion.

Brinkhaus assumes that CO₂-neutral heating will not be achieved in all buildings by 2045 anyway, which is why it is necessary to offset the emissions and cites the possibility of injecting CO₂ under the sea floor. Germany would be “net CO₂-neutral” in 2045. In point five, the MP names natural gas as a bridging technology that “must be replaced by green hydrogen as soon as possible” and advocates promoting hydrogen technology. “Air conditioning technologies such as wind power, photovoltaics, electric mobility, heat pumps and hydrogen are vital for the future of our industry,” said Brinkhaus in point six. He therefore advocated a “strong industrial policy for these ‘Clean Technologies'”.

For the expansion of renewable energies – such as wind turbines – he called for “urgently fewer regulations and restrictions”. In the past, the CDU had campaigned for a nationwide distance rule of one thousand meters from wind turbines. The 10H rule is in force in CSU-led Bavaria.

CDU politician Spahn wants to find “other ways” in climate protection and achieve “higher acceptance”.

While Brinkhaus is apparently sticking to the goal of climate neutrality in the building sector, his party colleague Jens Spahn wants to find “other ways” of climate protection that “spend significantly less money” and achieve “higher acceptance”. Because the global climate will “not be saved in Germany alone”. After all, Germany’s share of global CO₂ emissions is just two percent, said the Union politician. Therefore, politics must “do it in a way that it is ultimately accepted”.

If Spahn had read Brinkhaus’ seven-point plan, he would have been more familiar with the proportionality of German emissions: “We have one percent of the world’s population in Germany – but two percent of the CO₂ emissions and probably over 50 percent of the technology to reduce the CO₂ – to solve the problem,” it said. However, the two CDU colleagues agreed on the issue of offsetting emissions. In this context, Spahn referred to proposals from climate researchers, according to which the capture and storage of CO₂ underground is possible – a technology that has so far been banned in Germany.

Spahn also criticized that the traffic light would have made climate protection a “question of belief, of ideology”. In the previous government, on the other hand, this was a “question of reason”. Chancellor Scholz recalled on Saturday in an interview as part of the “Long Night of Time” that the previous CDU-led government, in which Social Democrats were also involved, had defined climate goals far away and then done too little about them. According to the Chancellor, this has increased the current challenge. The Heating Act stipulates that from 2024 every newly installed heating system will be operated with 65 percent renewable energy.