CDU: Thüringenforst should not operate wind turbines
The Thuringian CDU parliamentary group rejects wind power in forests and wants to prevent the state forestry commission from operating wind turbines on forest land. This is the aim of a resolution passed by CDU MPs at a parliamentary group meeting and submitted to dpa. In the motion, the CDU demands that the state parliament generally speak out against wind turbines in forests - regardless of whether healthy or damaged forest areas are involved.
The background to this is an FDP draft amendment to the Forest Act, with which the Free Democrats essentially want to ensure that when wind turbines are built on bare land, it should always be considered whether the area could possibly be reforested. Thuringia's FDP chairman Thomas Kemmerich said at a state party conference that the party would work to make wind power in forests "virtually impossible".
The plan is considered controversial because the opposition could once again change a law against the will of the red-red-green state government with the help of AfD votes. The AfD as well as the CDU and FDP are fundamentally opposed to wind power in forests.
The CDU parliamentary group's spokesperson for forestry policy, Marcus Malsch, signaled that he could imagine his parliamentary group voting in favour of the FDP draft. Thuringia is the green heart of Germany and the state forestry department should concentrate on reforestation and not on the expansion of wind energy, he said.
"Valuable forest areas are not needed for the transformation of the energy system towards climate neutrality. This also applies to calamity areas," reads the explanatory memorandum to the CDU resolution. The state government should work at federal level to ensure that the states can decide for themselves whether to exclude forest areas from wind energy use.
Wind turbines in forests had already been banned once in Thuringia - the Forest Act was amended accordingly at the insistence of the CDU. However, the Federal Constitutional Court overturned the regulation. Now the scientific service of the state parliament is to examine constitutional concerns regarding the FDP draft. Some of the parliamentary groups expect that the result could be available before the plenary session at the beginning of December.
When asked, FDP MP Robert-Martin Montag said that the FDP group is aiming to place the bill on the agenda if the report is available by then.
The last time the opposition passed a law with AfD support, there was nationwide criticism. The AfD celebrated the reduction in land transfer tax as a great success.
Thuringia's AfD co-leader Stefan Möller believes that the AfD already has creative power in Thuringia - precisely because of such votes by the opposition in parliament. Möller told the German Press Agency that the current polls give the AfD at least indirect power options. "Of course, this will have an impact on the power to shape things," he said, "just as it is already having an impact (...), think of the reduction in land transfer tax, for example," said Möller. For the AfD, it is a good option to deliver majorities - if they do not achieve an absolute majority.
In recent polls, the AfD came in first place with values between 32 and 34 percent - ahead of Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow's Left Party and the CDU. The Greens and FDP, on the other hand, must fear for their re-entry into parliament. If they are eliminated, an absolute majority could be achieved with just over 40 percent.
The CDU parliamentary group believes that the focus of Thuringia's forestry department should primarily be on reforestation, rather than the operation of wind turbines in forests, as this could hinder the transformation of the energy system towards climate neutrality. The CDU is also advocating for national discussions to allow states to decide whether to exclude forest areas from wind energy use.
Source: www.dpa.com
