Emissions angst fuels new tensions in loveless German coalition

Source: Reuters

WORLD NEWS JANUARY 27, 2019 / 6:59 PM / UPDATED 4 HOURS AGO

Emissions angst fuels new tensions in loveless German coalition

Andrea Shalal
3 MIN READ

BERLIN (Reuters) - Tensions in Germany’s loveless ruling coalition flared on Sunday after Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer, a conservative from the car-making state of Bavaria, called for a reassessment of limits on vehicle emissions.

Scheuer told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper he would raise the issue, and could push for changes, at the next meeting of European Union transport ministers following the publication last week of a letter in which more than 100 doctors questioned current limits on the emission of particulates.

He said Germany should “end the masochistic debates in which we in Germany harm ourselves with ever-tougher limits”, and he rejected imposing speed limits on German motorways to curb emissions and help meet climate protection goals.

Environment Minister Svenja Schulze, a member of the Social Democrats (SPD), junior partners in the coalition, shot back in an interview in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper that current limits were fact-based and there no reason to revise them.

“We should support communities with clean air programs instead of letting ourselves succumb to diversionary tactics,” she said. “That includes, for example, pushing for retrofits of diesel cars as quickly as possible.”

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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-emissions/emissions-angst-fuels-new-tensions-in-loveless-german-coalition-idUSKCN1PL0UH