Majority of Germans for quick lignite exit, split on Autobahn speed limit

A majority of Germans supports a quick coal exit, according to two different polls commissioned by German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF. 59 percent of respondents in the ARD poll call for an exit from lignite “as quickly as possible”. In the especially affected eastern German mining states of Brandenburg, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, this number is down to just 34 percent. 78 percent of respondents in the ZDF poll said that a “coal exit as fast as possible” is important or very important. Germany’s coal exit commission is on the final stretch of its negotiations to propose an exit path and timetable to government and lawmakers.
The ARD poll shows that Germans are split on the idea of introducing a general speed limit on Germany’s famous highway system, the Autobahn. 51 percent support the speed limit, 47 percent oppose. An internal working paper by the task force responsible for proposals to cut emissions from Germany’s transport sector had stirred public controversy this week.
The polls also showed the unchanged strong showing of the Green Party. If Germany were to hold national elections now, 20 percent of respondents would vote for the Greens, 28 percent for Angela Merkel’s CDU/CSU alliance, 15 percent for the Social Democrats (SPD), and 15 percent for the right-wing populist AfD, according to ARD. The current grand coalition government (CDU/CSU, SPD) would not get a majority.