Europe’s Latest Net-Zero Victim is Germany
By Marc Morano
November 11, 2024
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/germany-net-zero-policy-olaf-scholz-christian-lindner-europe-climate-energy- By The Editorial Board
The costs of net-zero climate policies continue to roil Western politics, and the latest evidence is the collapse last week of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition in Germany, paving the way for voting no later than March.
Germany has been governed since late 2021 by an unwieldy condominium of Mr. Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), the eco-leftist Green Party, and the small free-market Free Democrats (FDP). Mr. Scholz blew up this arrangement when he fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner, who’s also leader of the FDP. Mr. Lindner’s sin was to publish a policy paper arguing that Germany’s aggressive energy transformation isn’t economically sustainable and should be replaced by a low-tax, low-regulation agenda.
This brings to a head a bruising year-long fight about how to pay for net zero. The constitutional court ruled last year that the subsidies Berlin is using to sustain Germany’s industrial base amid higher energy prices must be funded on the government’s balance sheet rather than via off-balance-sheet borrowing. This means Berlin has to cover net-zero costs while staying within the constitution’s balanced-budget amendment.
Cue chaos, as no one could agree on how to fund climate policy once hiding the costs from taxpayers isn’t an option. A move to impose steeper fuel taxes on farmers sparked protests that clogged city streets with tractors. That tax hike was postponed.
https://www.climatedepot.com/2024/11/11/europes-latest-net-zero-victim-is-germany/
