“I don’t want to compromise the well-being of my children.” The Swiss politician who promotes the referendum against the environmental law speaks
Even Switzerland has been gripped by the climate fever. The Swiss Parliament agreed in September 2022 to new legislation on renewable energy that aims to accelerate the transition to renewable energy and states that Switzerland will have to achieve a net zero emissions balance (climate neutrality) by 2050. This means that the Switzerland shall not emit more greenhouse gases than will be absorbed by natural carbon sinks, such as forests, or technical ones. A sort of copy of the regulations at the EU, which have the same goal. The new law sets targets and milestones for reducing emissions and aims to ensure that financial flows are invested in a more climate-friendly way. In short, it affects production and economic activity to achieve objectives related to CO2.
However, the Swiss Federation is still a democratic country, so it is possible to submit these rules to a referendum. The UDC party, the Swiss People's Party, has collected the necessary 50,000 signatures and the law will be submitted to a popular vote. In the EU this is impossible. Then we will know what the electoral base really thinks.
Michael Graber, MP of the right-wing Swiss People's Party, is the co-chairman of the referendum committee and was interviewed by Swissinfo and presented his ideas:
Climate change exists and is also influenced by human beings. However, the new climate law will have no impact on global warming as Switzerland is responsible for only 0.1% of the world's CO 2 emissions. China, for example, issues in half a day what Switzerland issues in a year. I wonder what is the point of having a law that will cost us a lot of money, but will have virtually no effect globally.
An interesting topic, which no one in the EU raises. We are too Eurocentric to realize how globally irrelevant we are.
I have nothing against renewables, but they won't be enough to replace fossil energy. We will not be able to produce the electricity needed in times of need. In winter and at night the sun does not shine. It is an illusion to think that we could make the breakthrough so easily.
Another issue that is not dealt with in depth in the EU: one cannot speak only on bias, assuming that electricity will somehow arrive from somewhere. No, you need to have serious plans, which nobody has the courage to make, because there are no short-term alternatives.
According to a study by the strategic consulting group Boston Consulting, almost 400 billion francs will have to be invested to ensure that Switzerland reaches climate neutrality by 2050. And according to a study by the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, energy costs per inhabitant could rise from the current 3,000 to 9,600 francs a year.
Has anyone asked Italian or European citizens if they are really ready to spend thousands and thousands of euros each to support top-down CO2 emission targets? Also because the majority in the EP, which trusted the Commission and voted for these rules, is small-minded, heterogeneous, built ad hoc to support decisions taken externally by third parties.
So some words that are specific to Switzerland, but could be translated to Italy, in other words:
Switzerland's indirect emissions are high because we are a country with links all over the world, through our financial and banking sector. The alternative would be to become like a Third World country that generates direct emissions, but no indirect emissions. But is this really what we want? I don't want to sacrifice the country's prosperity just to have a clearer conscience.
Are we ready to sacrifice the prosperity of our few children for emission targets which, on a global level, will be irrelevant and whose influence on the climate is in any case debated? Have any of you been asked this question?
Thanks to our Telegram channel you can stay updated on the publication of new articles from Economic Scenarios.
The article “I don't want to compromise the well-being of my children”. The Swiss politician who promotes the referendum against the environmental law speaks from Scenari Economici .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/vogliamo-la-poverta-per-gli-obiettivi-ambientali/ on Mon, 01 May 2023 12:30:32 +0000.