BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – There is still no agreement in the coalition dispute over faster planning processes. After a conversation between Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) and Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) on Tuesday evening, a spokeswoman said: “We are in good talks.”
Lemke had pointed out that when it came to accelerating central projects, the cabinet decided in June that the focus should be on projects that serve climate protection – as well as investments in rail or the maintenance and replacement of bridges in particular. “The construction and expansion of motorways, roads or waterways does not belong in this category. New motorways do not serve to achieve climate goals, the opposite is the case.”
Wissing also wants faster planning processes for motorways. He said Tuesday traffic should be decarcobinized. He cannot understand why a climate-friendly car is a problem for climate protection. This is a “strange mixture”. The infrastructure must be expanded to meet demand, otherwise traffic jams will be created.
The Greens had spoken out in favor of faster planning processes for the rehabilitation of dilapidated bridges, as Green Party chairwoman Ricarda Lang had made clear. At the same time, she rejected a general acceleration of transport projects. This cannot be done with your party. In times of the climate crisis, it must be clear where the priority lies. Namely “with renovation and maintenance, with the expansion of renewables and power grids instead of with the construction of trunk roads”./hoe/DP/men
