Climate Policy: Technology Alone Won't Save Us

The ÖVP wants to focus on carbon storage in the national climate and energy plan – and is thus obstructing the vision of the basics

A metal sign warns of a buried CO2 pipeline in Huerfano County, Colorado (Photo: Jeffrey Bell, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

But there is a second reading of this reason; one that is not played out on the political stage, but written between the lines: “Why act now when we can leave the work to future generations?”

We are talking about carbon capture and storage (CCS for “carbon capture and storage”). The next government should lift the ban on pumping CO2 into abandoned oil and gas fields or filtering it directly from the air. This will not only stimulate the economy, but also reduce the urgency of unpopular measures. Rather than cutting emissions from a stagnant transport or agricultural sector, “technological openness” is the savior for climate protection.