Dresden - A group of climate activists attracted attention at Dresden Central Station today by briefly blocking the intersection at Fritz-Löffler-Straße (B170) and Bayerische Straße. According to the police, the protest action, during which each direction of travel was shut down for exactly seven minutes, went off without a hitch and as planned.
A novelty at this demonstration: the activists refrained from using climate stickers and deliberately allowed public transport buses to pass, while drivers reacted surprisingly calmly to the blockade. With a striking banner reading "Traffic jams are annoying for you, climate collapse is deadly for everyone", the demonstrators expressed their main demand: an urgent increase in the price of CO2.
In addition to this central demand, the climate activists also sent out a signal for another important climate policy measure: the introduction of a speed limit of 100 km/h on German freeways. This demand aims to reduce fuel consumption and therefore CO2 emissions, which would have a direct impact on the national climate balance.
Background
The debate about a speed limit on freeways and raising the price of CO2 is particularly intense in Germany. While a higher CO2 price aims to make climate-damaging behavior more expensive and thus reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a speed limit could also help to reduce the number of accidents and make traffic flow more smoothly.
History
Similar demands have already been made in the past by various environmental groups campaigning for a comprehensive reform of transport policy. The current demonstration is part of a long series of protests aimed at influencing the political and social discourse on effective climate protection measures.
