“Well meant, but badly done”: The managing director of the Association of Towns and Municipalities pleads for less hectic and more realism. Municipal buildings should also come into focus.
The German Association of Towns and Municipalities has warned of the failure of the energy and heat transition. Politicians must act less hectic and more realistic, especially when it comes to the heat transition, said managing director Gerd Landsberg to the newspapers of the Funke media group.
“The planned building energy law is well intentioned, but badly done,” he continued. People fear for their property, feel pressured and fear that they will not be able to finance the necessary changes. “Instead of climate desire, climate frustration arises – and with it the risk of losing the necessary acceptance of the population.”
Landsberg called for the possible services of municipalities with their 180,000 buildings – such as schools, daycare centers, sports halls and town halls – to be given more weight in the heat transition. “More than 165,000 properties are currently still heated with gas or oil,” he said. “Anyone who starts here can achieve a lot for the climate in a short time.”
Habeck wants to revise the law
Landsberg described the fact that Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) was now willing to compromise on the heating law as a good sign. However, there is no way around a fundamental revision.
After a heated argument in the traffic light coalition, Habeck had promised to revise the plans for switching to heating systems with renewable energies at some points. “I want to make the law better,” he told the Funke newspapers. Accordingly, a meeting of Habeck with members of the SPD, Greens and FDP parliamentary groups is planned for this Tuesday.
The previous legislative plans aim to ensure that from next year every newly installed heating system must be operated with at least 65 percent green energy. Alternatively, you can also switch to climate-neutral heat from a heating network.
Source: Stern
