Green and FDP parliamentarians discuss coal exit

The Greens’ Kerstin Andreae and FDP’s Otto Fricke, both members of the Bundestag, debated the parties’ policy differences and potential stumbling blocks for coalition talks in a joint interview in WirtschaftsWoche. Asked if the Greens’ proposal to immediately shut down the twenty dirtiest coal power plants was an option, Fricke said: “This probably includes the lignite plants which the SPD-Greens government in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) has supported until now. We will re-think, I ensure you.” Andreae doubted that the FDP would be willing to shut down the coal plants. “In NRW you agreed on the opposite in a new coalition and declared lignite a bridging technology,” she said to Fricke.

For background, read the CLEW factsheet Climate & energy stumbling blocks for Jamaica coalition talks.