AfD on climate and energy

The AfD wants to repeal the state's climate protection law and push for an end to carbon pricing and emissions trading. In the platform's view, Germany's CO2 emissions have no relevant effect on the climate, while climate measures harm the economy.

The AfD wants to scrap the state climate protection law. The price on CO2 should also go. The AfD says Germany has hardly any effect on the climate. Climate protection should not burden the economy.

Besides the state law, the carbon charge and the European Emissions Trading System (ETS) would be eliminated. The platform argues that emissions trading does not prevent emissions but shifts them to countries with lower environmental standards, while jobs are lost at home. The AfD sees earlier environmental policy as proof that prosperity and environmental protection are compatible and blames climate policy for a conflict between the two.

The AfD wants to push at both the state and federal level for Germany to use nuclear power plants again. The platform argues this would lower electricity prices and make Rhineland-Palatinate competitive again as an industrial location.

The AfD wants nuclear power plants in Germany again. It says nuclear power is cheap and safe. Then power gets cheaper for everyone. That also helps factories in the state.

The platform describes nuclear power as inexpensive, safe and clean. It is meant to be part of a broad energy mix that also has room for wind and solar, provided they hold their own in the market without support. The reasoning is high electricity prices, which the platform blames on taxes and the energy transition. Energy-intensive industry in the state in particular is said to need low prices. Cheaper power should benefit all businesses and households, not only those receiving state support.

The AfD wants to slow the build-out of wind and solar and leave them to the market without preferential treatment by the state. It cites unstable grids and high costs. Solar parks on farmland are not to be expanded further.

The AfD wants fewer new wind turbines and solar systems. The state should no longer favor them. The AfD says they make the power grid unstable and costly. No new solar parks should be built on farm fields.

Rooftop solar systems should be able to be curtailed so the grid stays stable. The price of solar power should be set by the market rather than through the EEG (Renewable Energy Sources Act) and the Federal Network Agency. The platform points to about 6 billion euros for grid interventions in 2024 and roughly 4 billion euros for electricity imports. Wind and solar are described as weather-dependent and as requiring costly backup plants. The AfD wants to stop ground-mounted solar on agricultural land because it competes with food production for the same areas.

The AfD wants to scrap carbon pricing on energy entirely, abolish the energy tax and cut the electricity tax to the lowest rate permitted in Europe. This is meant to keep industry in the state and relieve households.

The AfD wants to end the CO2 price on energy. The energy tax should go too. The power tax should be as low as allowed. Then fuel, heating and power get cheaper.

The state would launch initiatives in the Bundesrat (the chamber of the states) and with the EU. The platform cites prices for fuel, heating and electricity that are high by international comparison. It says companies are closing plants and moving production abroad as a result. It adds that the carbon price will keep rising under the European emissions trading system. The electricity tax cut would apply to all consumers.

The AfD wants to end current climate policy and abolish the CO2 levy. Instead of trying to stop climate change, the state should adapt to it. The party justifies this with keeping industry and jobs.

The AfD wants to end the current climate policy. The charge on CO2 should go away. The AfD says Germany cannot change the climate. The state should adapt to climate change instead. That way, factories and jobs are meant to stay.

According to the platform, neither Germany nor Rhineland-Palatinate can influence the climate, so what matters is adapting to its changes. The AfD accuses the federal and state governments of pursuing a policy of deindustrialization. It regards the CO2 levy as a cost driver and wants it removed. If industry moves to countries with lower environmental standards, global greenhouse gas emissions rise, the platform argues. Only a strong industrial base, it says, generates the revenue needed for adaptation.