Election in Baden-Württemberg: How green is green in the state?

For ten years, Kretschmann has been a pragmatic Green Realo in Baden-Württemberg. But how many green party ideas have you actually implemented? What do environmentalists say, what does the auto industry say?

Guido Mennicken’s disappointment with the Greens must be quite great: he wants to distribute 15,000 leaflets before the state elections so that the politics he expects from a Green Party can finally be made in Baden-Württemberg. “Speed ​​is essential when it comes to climate protection, the Greens are too discouraged,” says the 48-year-old biologist. When he was a student, he himself was a member of the Greens. He is now campaigning for the “Climate List,” a newly founded green party, and is running for state parliament himself.

Mennicken, for example, calls for bans on short domestic flights. But such a policy is not to be expected from the Greens in Baden-Württemberg. “Some electric cars, the rest will be found” is the general attitude there. Because conservatives now also choose green and don’t want to panic, Mennicken suspects.

The “pragmatic boss” convinces even the conservatives

The Greens’ top candidate and incumbent prime minister, Winfried Kretschmann, has been called a “pragmatist in chief.” Hardly any other green politician has managed so well to champion innovative ideas and traditions at the same time. Kretschmann, 72, hails from the country, is considered down-to-earth, is a devout Christian and a member of the Central Committee of German Catholics. That, too, apparently makes him eligible in what was once a particularly conservative state. Kretschmann has been in power since 2011, before Baden-Württemberg had only been Prime Minister of the CDU for decades. He is up for re-election on March 14.

At the Greens’ base, Kretschmann always offends, with statements that some consider too business-friendly. It shouldn’t “throttle” the auto industry, says Kretschmann. Last year he wanted to help automakers with a “combustion bonus” through the Covid-19 pandemic. And he thinks it is “nonsense” to only allow electric cars from 2030.

The auto industry should be relieved at such rates. But at the moment it is impossible to get a comment from your VDA association. From there it is said that an interview on this topic must be canceled. “In the short term before the elections”, one wants to “refrain from making statements.”

The auto industry is slowing down

“You don’t want to add fuel to the fire,” says election researcher Frank Brettschneider. Too much praise from the auto industry could hurt Kretschmann politically and automakers just aren’t interested in that right now. The green base complains over and over again about Kretschmann’s heading in terms of cars, but there’s not too strong a headwind from there. Brettschneider is convinced that “you would have taken it from anyone else.” “Kretschmann manages to explain his policy with the need for a compromise.”

However, some environmental and nature conservation associations are disappointed by the environmentally friendly transport and climate protection policy in Baden-Württemberg. “The automotive industry in Germany is run too smoothly and I would also like Winfried Kretschmann to have a clearer word from time to time,” says Johannes Enssle, president of Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU) in the state of Baden-Württemberg. On the other hand, the balance sheet after ten years of green government is not a complete failure either. Kretschmann and his party had implemented some of their goals.

Sensitive topic of wind energy

“Many older conservationists tell me that they get dizzy when they realize what the Greens in Baden-Württemberg have accomplished in just a few years,” Enssle says. As examples, he cites the expansion of local public transport and the cycle lane network, the establishment of the Black Forest National Park, and the tripling of spending on nature conservation. However, the expansion of wind power has slowed down in Baden-Württemberg. Wind turbines are a difficult subject for Kretschmann and nature conservationists because this is where green energy policy and nature conservation collide.

“I also recognize the successes of the Greens,” says climate candidate Mennicken. He also values ​​Kretschmann as a person. However, with a view to climate policy, his judgment is unequivocal: the Greens are only the “second most progressive party” in the country.