By Gunnar Schupelius
There is no longer a differentiated view of climate change, nor is there any weighing up of the costs and benefits of the measures. Instead, the government and activists are causing panic and confusion, says Gunnar Schupelius.
On Tuesday, activists from the Last Generation group damaged the Ministry of Transport on Invalidenstrasse. They had a special vehicle with a tank and pump. They hurled paint at the facade from a hose and soiled it extensively.
They would have to give Minister of Transport Wissing (FDP) “a cold shower”, they said, because he was blocking climate protection. As self-righteous as ever, they authorized themselves to cause serious damage to property for the higher goal of saving the world. They believe in the “tipping point” of warming: in a few years everything will be too late.
The climate stickers pretend to be fighters against the federal government, but in reality they have powerful allies there, for example Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens).
Exactly one day before the paint attack, Habeck issued a frightening report: The result of a new study is that the economic damage caused by global warming by 2050 for Germany will amount to up to 900 billion euros. These figures are based on an analysis by the Federal Environment Agency. They were disseminated by the journalists and questioned by only a few.
The economic and climate expert for the daily newspaper “Die Welt”, Axel Bojanowski, found out that the Federal Environment Agency operates with climate models that assume a maximum warming trend that does not currently exist. (worst case scenario).
The calculations for the past also raise questions: From 2000 to 2021, consequential climate damage in Germany amounted to 145 billion euros, reported Habeck. Total damage from the 2021 flood disaster in the Ahr Valley was included in this calculation (40.5 billion euros).
However, this flood is not classified by the meteorologists as a phenomenon of climate change, but as a meteorological one, because there had been similar heavy rains again and again in the past. There was a lack of precaution and protection in the Ahr Valley, which is why it got so bad.
Global warming can definitely cause extreme weather, but humans deal with it and adapt: the number of victims caused by weather, for example from river floods, is falling worldwide.
Habeck is actually proceeding in a similar way to the climate stickers: First, great fear is spread, then extreme demands are made, such as the ban on combustion engines, the ban on heating, forced renovation of buildings, the early phase-out of coal or “climate neutrality” by 2030.
There is no longer a differentiated view of climate change, nor is there any weighing up of the costs and benefits of the measures. The government and activists are causing panic and confusion, leaving people at a loss.
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