Red-Green Environmental Policy in Germany: Strategies and Performance Patterns

Abstract

Environmental policy is considered a cornerstone of Red–Green politics in Germany because it is integral for party identity and a measure of performance for the Greens (Bündnis ’90/Die Grünen). In 2002, after four years in office and at the beginning of the new legislative term, it appears that environmental policy may be one of this government’s few success stories. After the elections in 1998, the Greens faced a dual challenge. On the one hand, party members as well as their voters had high expectations, particularly regarding the realization of the phase-out of nuclear energy and the ecological tax reform (SPD and Bündnis ’90/Die Grünen 1998). The opposition to nuclear energy was one of the central features of the environmental movement of the 1970s and has remained crucial for the Green party since then. On the other hand, their general ability to govern was still questioned by their critics (Roberts 1999: 151; Rüdig 2000; Rüdig 2002: 78, 92).