Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – The Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation and the ecological transport club have severely criticized Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) for questioning the climate goals in the transport sector. “The signal that the prime minister is sending is devastating. In the sector where we are furthest from the goals, the goals are now being put into perspective,” said Martin Bachhofer, state director at BUND, on Wednesday in Stuttgart. He demanded that the green-black state government put the construction and expansion of state and district roads to the test. “Here you can save money and switch to public transport.”
Kretschmann explained on Tuesday that given the limited financial resources, not everything could be done. Achieving the climate target for transport will become a problem. “That’s why I’m not involved in the race to formulate ever stricter goals,” said the head of government. The country would have to reduce greenhouse gases in transport by 55 percent within seven years in order to achieve its climate targets. Transport Minister Winfried Hermann (Greens) had requested 120 million euros for the year 2024 for the expansion of bus and train services during the budget talks, but did not get through.
The chairman of the ecological traffic club, Matthias Lieb, showed no understanding for Kretschmann’s statement. “The fact that climate protection is not available for free was already known when the climate targets were adopted. It is completely unbelievable to act as if you had suddenly noticed that there was no money for climate protection in the transport sector.” The transport sector has not made any contribution to climate protection for 30 years. Lieb is also of the opinion: “Far too much money is still being invested in more and more new roads – here financial and planning capacities for the expansion of bus and train could be reallocated.”
