Because Austria has not had a valid climate protection law for 700 days, the NEOS speaks across the board of a failure by the Greens. Environmental spokesman Michael Bernhard and Secretary-General Douglas Hoyos criticized in a press conference on Wednesday that the Greens in the government and Leonore Gewessler as climate protection minister are also making far too little progress when it comes to reducing emissions, using renewable energy sources or reducing thermal renovating residential buildings.
“A thousand days reigned, a thousand days nothing happened,” Hoyos paraphrased an 1980s pop song. Hoyos said he was under the impression that the Greens, as a minor coalition partner of the ÖVP, had given up all decency and made no promises for the future, not only on the environment, but on many other future issues as well.
Emissions have increased compared to other countries
Bernhard also criticized that Austria would not come close to meeting the 2040 climate targets. In contrast to other European countries, emissions have actually increased recently. While the Greens have noble goals, they lack management skills. The NEOS, on the other hand, are reliable partners, he beat the campaign drum. He advocated a decentralized modernization of the energy system, a huge increase in thermal renovation and the cessation of land use.
Bernhard and Hoyos rejected the fact that the Greens might be criticizing the wrong party and that the major government faction ÖVP should be targeted as an environmental brake. It is about making the failure of a government visible, and more was expected from the Greens in particular. The People’s Party is known, the NEOS have massively criticized them over the debt issue and for their corruption scandals. But the Greens are responsible for climate protection, Hoyos said.
“Criticism contains a certain irony”
The Greens rejected the criticism. “The fact that NEOS, of all times, held a press conference a year after the cancellation of the Lobau tunnel in which they criticized the climate protection policies of other parties contains a certain amount of irony,” said climate protection spokesman Lukas Hammer. in a broadcast: “For the first time we have a minister of climate protection who also has the courage to take the necessary decisions against a lot of resistance.” The current federal government has made more progress on climate protection than any government in Austria has ever done before.
The NEOS should contribute to climate protection for which they are themselves responsible, Hammer continued: “Instead, climate protectors and scientists are being charged in the federal capital and new highway projects must be implemented. What happens in Vienna – ie in the city for which NEOS is also responsible – has absolutely nothing to do with climate protection Driver Policy”.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
