FDP stops wind turbines in the forest with CDU and AfD
In Thuringia, it will be more difficult to build wind turbines in forests in future. The relevant law is being amended in the state parliament against the will of the state government. To this end, the FDP and CDU have joined forces - and have the AfD provide them with the missing votes they need.
Once again, the FDP and CDU have joined forces with the AfD to amend a law in Thuringia. The three opposition parties pushed through an amendment to the forest law in the state parliament against the red-red-green minority coalition of Left Party Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow. The legally controversial law presented by the FDP is intended to make it more difficult to build wind turbines in Thuringia's forests. A general ban on wind turbines, which was in place until 2022, was overturned as unconstitutional by the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe.
The amendment stipulates that wind turbines in forests must be reforested on compensation areas within two years. However, areas previously used for agriculture are taboo. MDR quotes business representatives who fear that the likely lack of expansion will lead to further high energy prices and thus competitive disadvantages.
The decision by the three parties is also likely to make it much more difficult to achieve the expansion targets set by the German government. In July last year, the Bundestag decided that all federal states must designate around two percent of their land for wind power by 2032. According to the law, Thuringia must designate exactly 1.8 percent of its area for wind power by the end of 2027 and 2.2 percent by the end of 2032.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 871 turbines with a capacity of around 1828 megawatts are currently installed in the state. At the end of last year, 0.4 percent of the state's area was legally designated as a wind priority area.
Dam break with land transfer tax
The first amendment to the law, in which the votes of the AfD around state leader Björn Höcke, classified by the Thuringian Office for the Protection of the Constitution as proven right-wing extremist, played a decisive role, had caused a nationwide debate a few weeks ago. At that time, the CDU, as the largest opposition group in the state parliament in Erfurt, pushed through a reduction in the land transfer tax to five percent together with the FDP and AfD.
The CDU had justified its actions by saying that good initiatives could not be prevented just because the AfD was threatening to vote in favor. The Thuringian CDU had received backing from the head of the federal party.
A coalition of the Left Party, SPD and Greens is governing Thuringia without its own majority. A new state parliament will be elected next fall. Polls show the AfD clearly in the lead. None of the current alliances without the right-wing populists can hope for a sufficient majority.
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The FDP and CDU have once again sought the support of the AfD in Thuringia, this time to make it harder to build wind turbines in forests. The three parties succeeded in amending the forest law in the state parliament, potentially leading to higher energy prices and competitive disadvantages for businesses.
In a recent move, the CDU, FDP, and AfD collaborated to lower the land transfer tax in Thuringia, arguing that good initiatives shouldn't be hindered due to the AfD's involvement.
Source: www.ntv.de
