Berlin’s Climate Referendum Could Give Leaders Instant Dictatorial Powers

Written by Pierre Gosselin on March 14, 2023. Posted in Current News

The road to tyranny begins in Berlin as the climate gets framed as a state of emergency

A new, radical climate amendment that will be voted on March 26 in a referendum could change Berlin’s climate targets to enforceable obligations, thus clearing the way for radical CO2 reduction measures by an unelected council.

Draft amendment: carbon neutrality already by 2030 instead of 2045!

If Berliners think protesters obstructing traffic by gluing themselves to the streets are a nuisance, just wait until what could be the case after March 26, when Berliners vote on the climate referendum.

If the climate referendum is successful, a radical amendment to the current climate protection and energy transition law will be enacted.

The online German Pleiteticker.de exclusively has an internal paper, and reports of an “empowerment paragraph” in the proposed amended law.

The aim of the referendum is to amend the existing Climate Protection and Energy Transition Act (EWG Bln) in order to force the city of Berlin to achieve climate neutrality by 2030 instead of 2045.

The vote will be binding, which means that if the referendum is successful, the amendment will be enacted into law. The amendment is being pushed by the Green Party and radical groups like Fridays for Future and Extinction Rebellion.

Targets would become legal obligations

The amendment would be so radical that even Berlin SPD socialists consider it dangerous and speak of an “empowerment paragraph” in the law that would transfer immense power to a small group of unelected people, namely a Climate Protection Council appointed by the Berlin Senate.

Concerning paragraph six of the new amendment, “Immediate program in the event of non-fulfillment of obligations”, the SPD explicitly warns that climate targets have been changed to “obligations”, which would mean the Berlin Senate probably would have to implement immediate radical measures to achieve the obligations, even by court order.

Paragraph 14 provides for a “Climate Protection Council” to monitor compliance. It would be appointed by the Berlin Senate and not made up of democratically elected officials.

“There is a danger that the possibility of immediate measures – which, according to the SPD, are not democratically legitimized – will be used excessively”, Pleiteticker warns.

“If the climate referendum is successfully implemented, it will therefore not only be expensive for Berliners but there will be many more restrictions on freedom than under the previous Socialist-Green Senate – Berliners may then have to say goodbye to their cars completely.”

Reducing flights at Berlin’s BER airport?

According to paragraph 3 on “Climate Protection Obligations”, CO2 reduction should be 70 percent by 2025 and 95 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels! “The previous regulation has been changed so that the time periods are dramatically shortened,”

According to Clause 2, even the Berlin airport would be a part of the climate budget. Pleiteticker warns:

“So there is a risk that an immediate measure for emissions reduction could be to reduce the number of flights.”

Property owners would be forced to make major renovations

The amendment also calls on the mandatory energy refurbishment of all public buildings by 2030 and the entire state administration would have to be CO2 neutral by 2030.

“Where the money is to come from remains a mystery once again,” Pleiteticker comments.

Paragraph 19, “Use of Renewable Energy”, could also mean the mandatory installation of solar panels for all homeowners. Again, no one knows how all of this would be paid for.

Owning a home and property would certainly become unaffordable for many private owners.

Looking at it from a different angle, Berlin could serve as a pilot that would in all likelihood expose the sheer folly of rapid climate neutrality once and for all.

Maybe a “successful” referendum would be a good lesson for the rest of the world.

See more here climatechangedispatch

Header image: Wikipedia

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