Greens/Voglauer: “Real climate protection can only be achieved with the Greens”

The environmental organization WWF recently asked all parties about the important nature and environmental issues during the National Council elections. Olga Voglauer, General Secretary of the Greens, said of the results: “While the Greens stand firmly for nature and climate protection, the positions of the other parties are disastrous. The conservative ÖVP and the right-wing extremist Kickl party are reliably on the wrong side and are once again on the completely wrong boat. Whether it’s about a binding soil protection target that would end the rampant concreting of our homeland, about the eco-social tax reform that finally rewards climate-friendly behavior or about the dismantling of environmentally harmful subsidies. It’s time for people’s concerns to be taken seriously,” says Voglauer. “In the case of the ÖVP, we can also clearly see the resistance the Greens faced in climate protection in the last legislative period. And the result is impressive: emissions are falling for the first time. And that’s certainly not because of the conservatives’ “Look, we’ll see” mentality. We are not just the conservation party, we are also the enforcement party,” she adds.

The supposed promises of the SPÖ, which are consistently positive, are unfortunately not credible, says Voglauer. “Concrete lovers par excellence spoke out in the survey in favor of a binding soil protection target. Well then: bring it on. It is also the SPÖ-led federal states that are clearly against this necessary upper limit and are vehemently blocking it,” she adds. “Is this the same SPÖ that dreams of paving highways through nature reserves in Vienna? Voters are being duped here. Saying A and doing B – that has nothing to do with clean, honest politics. In the interests of climate protection, I would like these answers from the questionnaire to also find their way into reality. Unfortunately, experience teaches us the opposite.”

“It shows once again: real climate protection can only be achieved with us Greens. That’s why it’s important that we take responsibility. We fight every day for clean water, fresh air and intact nature – even with a lot of headwind. We are committed to ensuring that the economy and the environment, together with social cohesion, fit together. That’s what we’re passionate about,” says Voglauer.