Transport policy | Non-populist populists

Fuel prices are currently at record levels. Photo: dpa/Marijan Murat Anyone who currently talks to drivers who still drive around with the bad, old combustion engine will hear real tirades about the rip-off by the oil companies. It is all too obvious that they are taking advantage of the international crisis situation to increase the price of fuel. However, the very party that is pushing stupid (right-wing) populism to the extreme in this country has no problem at all with the behavior of Shell, BP & Co. In the AfD's view, they are simply behaving in accordance with the market. The only one to blame is the evil elite state with its high taxes and its nonsensical climate change CO2 price. Both have to be reduced or abolished, then super and diesel will be affordable again. And then it says again: free travel for free citizens.

Even the automobile lobby club ADAC, which is certainly not green-left, knows that the sharp rise in the price of crude oil, which is likely to rise even further with the current Saudi oil transport problems, is far from justifying the price level at the gas stations. This is a clear case of market failure, which the AfD does not recognize for ideological reasons. Therefore, the state does not have to withdraw, but rather, on the contrary, finally intervene. Possibilities include an excess profits tax, government price controls and a margin cap. The SPD is actually in favor of certain interventions, but the Economics Minister and CDU right-winger Katharina Reiche knows how to prevent this with the backing of the Chancellor. And so the government makes itself unable to act and does nothing about its unpopularity at this point.

The obviously untenable situation would offer the opportunity to finally seriously push forward a transport transition towards local and long-distance public transport, electromobility and expanded cycle paths. Revenue from an excess profits tax would be very helpful. Instead of making gasoline prices cheaper, alternatives to the combustion engine are needed. Many more citizens would switch if only the train ran more reliably, there were better local transport options in the countryside and cycling in the city became safe. And in the political sphere this would also have a positive effect: it would clearly show how non-populist the populists from the AfD are in real life.

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