“Step on the gas” with a difference: It’s not about speed, it’s about heating, showering and industry. The Federal Minister of Economics pushes the pedal, but if the line is empty, the lead foot is useless. Anne Will is worried: “The gas crisis in Germany – how severe will the consequences be?”
The guests
Jens Spahn (42, CDU). The parliamentary group leader proposes to let nuclear power plants run longer.
Johannes Vogel (40, FDP). The party deputy praises the new liquid gas acceleration law as the “first major blueprint for planning acceleration”.
Kevin Kuehnert (32, SPD). The Secretary General defended the Putin-Schröder pipeline to the last liter, but then immediately did a backflip.
Prof. Claudia Kemfert (53). The energy expert from the German Council of Economic Experts hopes: “Europe can do without Russian oil and gas!”
Anna Mayr (29). The journalist (“Zeit”) stormed back in March: “I can only take those who understand Russia seriously if they are willing to emigrate there!”
Clever minds, clear edges? The Zoff-o-Meter registers every ducking away from reality!
Hardest serve
The FDP parliamentary group leader throws the first ball into the field with a vengeance: “This man is an unpredictable autocrat!” he rants about Putin. “He wants us to engage in corrosive debates and then our support for Ukraine and its freedom struggle might crumble.”
Photo: The first
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Vogel’s bitter balance sheet: “Foreseeable omissions are now catching up with us in the crisis – in the state of the Bundeswehr, in the energy dependency on Russia, in the future possibly in pension financing.” Gulp!
Most objective immediate program
“In industry we are still promoting gas-fired combined heat and power systems. That should be done away with immediately,” criticizes energy expert Kempfert. Also: “A ban on the installation of gas heaters would make sense, coupled with a heat pump booster program. Plus training programs, more craftsmen…”
<img class="photo ondemand zoomable" src="https://bilder.bild.de/fotos-skaliert/prof-claudia-kemfert-53-be91d50d97f848b58b64c5ab9f3eaa1e-80521984/5,w=1280,c=0.bild.jpg" width="1280" alt="Prof. Claudia Kemfert (53)" data-zoom-title="Prof. Claudia Kemfert (53)
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Prof. Claudia Kemfert (53)Photo: The first
Her most serious accusation: “We lost valuable months, although we had to reckon with the fact that Russia could turn off the gas when the war started!”
Most interesting folklore
“I was in Großlohe last week, where Olaf Scholz grew up,” reports “Zeit”-Mayr. “On the left are single-family houses, everyone is very happy with how Scholz does it and that he is so hesitant.”
But, the journalist continues: “On the right are social housing, and I spoke to a man who works as a garbage collector and said that war is what the big players do, and that inflation affects the little people. ”
Heaviest Putin scolding
Kühnert does what he likes to do: He starts with a presentation on correct political action. “One also has a government,” he lectures with a pious look upwards, “that it takes precautions in the assumption that such a situation could arise.” Aha.
And, according to the general, slightly ironically, “do not just indulge in horror scenarios and consider how we will all impoverish next winter”.
Kühnert no longer harbors any illusions about Putin: “This man’s actions are characterized by irrationality, and to seriously try to psychologize and consider what he would probably do now would be really negligent political action.” Boom!
Key Announcements
“The week after next, in the next week of sittings in the Bundestag, the question will be how we are able to connect the reserve coal-fired power plants to the grid in the short term,” reports the general with a heavy punch in the air.
<img class="photo ondemand zoomable" src="https://bilder.bild.de/fotos-skaliert/kevin-kuehnert-32-spd-9f922e06f9f440b58be2112b430f72bc-80521976/5,w=1280,c=0.bild.jpg" width="1280" alt="Kevin Kühnert (32, SPD)" data-zoom-title="Kevin Kühnert (32, SPD)
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Kevin Kuehnert (32, SPD)Photo: The first
“The energy-saving campaigns are starting,” reports Kühnert. “We have to enter into dialogue with the industry and, of course, also talk about the burden on households. One of the most prominent dates for this is that the Federal Chancellor invites you to this concerted action to see what can hold the country together.”
Most Legitimate Complaint
“It was always clear: ‘If we phase out coal and nuclear energy at the same time and renewables cannot take over the role within a few years, gas is the bridge’,” recalls Spahn. “That’s also in the coalition agreement of the traffic light!”
“Mrs. Kempfert shakes her head, always thought that was wrong,” the talk show host registered with amusement.
Most undeserved insult
Regarding “crisis management in the crisis”, the offended CDU politician says: “Since Putin’s attack in February, what has happened? Why are coal-fired power plants only now being used to relieve gas-fired power plants? We called for that back in March, I was laughed at in the Bundestag, I remember that!”
<img class="photo ondemand zoomable" src="https://bilder.bild.de/fotos-skaliert/jens-spahn-42-cdu-0bbca17ebe184b10953b76bc923c6697-80521980/5,w=1280,c=0.bild.jpg" width="1280" alt="Jens Spahn (42, CDU)" data-zoom-title="Jens Spahn (42, CDU)
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Jens Spahn (42, CDU)Photo: The first
Then Spahn lists his questions on his fingers: “Why didn’t we use coal earlier to make a difference? Why don’t we use bio-gas where we have domestic reserves? Why weren’t the energy saving incentives implemented earlier?”
Partisan attack
“You’re always smarter afterwards,” grumbles the SPD general and quickly launches a counter-offensive: “Your chairman and many others were very active in March, calling on us to introduce a large-scale, nationwide energy embargo – coal, oil and gas – against Russia! ‘ he replies to Spahn.
Kühnert’s precise accusation: “If Friedrich Merz had had his way, the ‘Nord Stream 1’ pipeline would have been closed long ago!”
Worst defensive action
“Mr. Spahn also asked for it,” the talk show host eagerly assists, because she has already had a suitable quote from the CDU deputy prepared and promptly plays it. O-Ton Spahn: “Stop gas deliveries via Nord Stream 1 immediately!”
“I’m not saying that I’ve always been right,” admits the caught CDU man out of necessity and raises his hands imploringly: “But it must still be possible to ask questions! If you don’t have a plan, of course the shock for everyone involved and also for the markets is immense.” Heidewitzka!
statesmanlike hope
“If we deal with the big questions, then this country is catastrophically haphazard in many challenges,” admits the FDP parliamentary group leader to his friend Jens. “Among other things, in the system competition with Vladimir Putin.”
Vogel’s urgent warning: “Maybe we’ll learn from this that this isn’t the opportunity for the usual party-political minutiae. Because: that’s exactly what Putin wants! He’s aware of that. This is not an energy policy question. He uses it to make war policy!”
Most thoughtful justification
When Will Kühnert is confronted with earlier tirades against restarting the coal-fired power plants, the SPD general simply replies: “Just as I have changed my opinion on arms deliveries to a war zone, I see a sheer necessity here to temporarily resort to this source as well. “
Means: So. And bye, you stupid question!
Saddest litany
Then Kühnert takes on the energy expert: Prof. Kempfert’s accusation that the embargo should have been imposed immediately in order to put pressure on the switch to renewable energies was “a bit too light-footed” for him.
Because, according to the SPD general: “Heat pumps cannot be installed because they are in Asian ports. Many installers have not yet been trained. There is only one company in Germany in the field of waste water heating…”
Then the Zoff-o-Meter starts
Kühnert describes the consequences of such premature discussions, especially for those on low incomes, with violent gestures and drastic words: “People are simply exhausted, even after the two years of Corona!”
But the professor immediately pays back the little malice of the ungraduated ex-student: “I understand the political decision,” she counters, “but a certain transparency and seriousness and a certain dynamic would have been useful.” Uff!
Most Personal Attack
Spahn is annoyed by a saying by the Minister of Economics, who scoffed at unjustified applications for an energy saving bonus: “Hey dude, you won’t get it!”
The CDU man is visibly angry: “He’s celebrated for that, but I wonder how cynical that actually comes from those who are already looking at what they can save!”
Last Stand
“I’ve read that you have to reckon with the triple billing of additional costs,” the talk show host shudders at the end.
“It can even be quadrupled,” says Prof. Kempfert, “because prices are exploding. Gas prices quadruple in some cases. When they are passed, it’s really brutal. You really recommend that people set aside money because, it’s a huge expense!”
Her worried estimate: “You have to set aside 1000, 2000 euros. It won’t be as brutal this winter, but it will be next winter, because it’s always submitted with a time delay.” Well, good night, Germany…
quote of the evening
“200 euros on basic security, you shouldn’t belittle that, even if I don’t want to be the cheerleader of the federal government now.” Anna Mayr
Conclusion
Annoying tapeworm questions, tormenting monologues, tiresome subtleties and cheeky Pinocchio statements: that was energy-saving talk in the “cold shower” category.