Overview
- Graichen told RND the current coalition is reverting to fossil fuels despite warnings and is colliding with geopolitical realities shaped by wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
- He points to Scandinavia, where heat pumps and electric cars became the standard because policy made the cleaner options cheaper.
- He calls for abolishing the electricity tax, redesigning grid fees, and deploying targeted incentives so heat pumps and EVs match the cost of gas boilers and combustion cars.
- He attributes the policy shift by the Union and SPD to oil and gas industry interests, far-right extremism, and the political appeal of promising no change.
- He says the climate crisis will not fade if ignored and predicts the rollback may prove short-lived, while his critique comes after his 2023 exit over the ‘Trauzeugenaffäre’ in the economics ministry.