DUH/Left: Fighting the Fuel and Climate Crisis with a Speed Limit of 100

The NGO Deutsche Umwelthilfe as well as the Left Party have now called for an immediate speed limit of 100 km/h on highways. Additionally, they suggested a limit of 80 km/h on country roads and a general limit of 30 km/h in urban areas.

"Every liter of fuel saved helps to reduce dependency on Russian oil and gas imports. We now have the historical opportunity to simultaneously combat the safety and climate crisis," argues DUH.

According to their calculations, these measures could save more than nine million tons of CO2 per year. In total, this would be up to 3.7 billion liters of gasoline and diesel that could be saved annually. Introducing a speed limit could immediately reduce dependency on Russian imports as well.

"It is not enough to push forward the expansion of renewable energies with high pressure now. Short-term efficiency and saving measures that are effective must become an indispensable part of our security and climate policy," demands the NGO.

The construction of a wind turbine takes an average of seven years, while the speed limit could be implemented within a few weeks, is practically cost-free, and also saves lives by increasing road safety.

"Anyone who now wants longer runtimes for nuclear power plants and coal plants to reduce dependency on Putin's gas and oil is on the wrong track in terms of climate and security policy. Additionally, they ignore the double game that is currently being played regarding fossil energy imports from Russia: The EU imports gas and oil worth around 600 million euros from Russia every day. This further finances Putin's war of aggression," also criticize politicians Maximilian Becker and Lorenz Gösta Beutin, climate policy makers on the party board of the Left Party.

The construction of new terminals for LNG liquefied gas is also not an alternative after the justified cancellation of Nordstream 2. Not only would the terminals be available in a few years, LNG is at least as harmful to the climate as coal. How absurd the discussion about the extension of nuclear power is shown by the attacks on a Ukrainian nuclear power plant.

"The only sustainable thing about nuclear power is the half-life of its waste. Instead, far-reaching short- and long-term measures are now required to reduce dependency on energy sources from Russia. For example, a general speed limit would be easy to implement and have a significant impact," the politicians continue.

They also consider car-free Sundays to be worth considering in this context. Additionally, energy prices are continuing to skyrocket - also driven by speculation. The politicians called on the federal government to implement temporary price controls on the European level for the energy market.