Hambeck from New York: US climate policy “is not on the right track”

Tough criticism of American climate policy made by its Minister of Economy, Robert Hambeck, speaking yesterday (08.03. 24) to students at Columbia University, New Underground, in . The Minister of Finance of Germany stated: “Excuse me for saying this: the US is not on the right track,” he said in the direction of students as he was talking about American climate policy. “Your energy is cheap because you are not on the (p. Correct) path”, complained the green politician. High energy prices for industry in Germany are repeatedly criticised by the German government as a major disadvantage for the country as a place of business – and as the reason why more and more companies are reported to be moving to the US, notes Handelsblattt. One of the reasons why the US has lower prices is that they produce large-scale gas and still rely on coal. Not even the “law on reducing inflation” (IRA), President Joe Biden’s billion-euro subsidy programme aimed at attracting climate neutral industries in the country, was unable to appease Hambeck. The IRA can indeed bring the US forward in the fight against climate change. Finance Minister Hambeck stressed that. However, the programme is not a panacea for the climate crisis – it is global. However, the IRA with its protective rules attracts only green technologies in the US. At the expense of other parts of the world. Habeck criticised the IRA for tackling the fight against climate change “only in small boxes”. According to Habeck, this problematic protectionism is a particular American problem that continues to intensify. This was the trend in the Biden government, Trump administration, and Obama administration.