Autobahn speed limit? Nein!

BERLIN – An EU official called on Germany to give up the famous freedom of its highways and impose speed limits on the autobahn to fight global warming – a demand that drew angry responses on Sunday in a country that cherishes what it calls “free driving for free citizens.”

The call came as the German government makes action against climate change a priority of its current presidencies of the EU and Group of Eight.

Still, the German environment minister showed little enthusiasm for EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas’ suggestion and a group representing the country’s auto industry said it needed “no coaching on efficient climate protection from Brussels.”

Many stretches of German autobahn lack speed limits – traditionally a cherished freedom in a rule-bound country. However, the growing concern over carbon dioxide emissions is putting that tradition under renewed scrutiny.

“There are so many areas in which we waste energy in a completely senseless way and burden the climate,” Dimas told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

“A simple measure in Germany could be a general speed limit on highways,” he added, according to the newspaper. “Speed limits make a lot of sense for many reasons and are completely normal in most EU states, as in the U.S.A. – only in Germany, strangely, is it controversial.”

The commissioner did not suggest a specific speed limit for Germany.

Dimas’ comments drew a slew of largely negative responses Sunday on the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung’s Internet site. One respondent described the debate as a “farce” and questioned the environmental record of Dimas’ native Greece.

Another demanded “free driving for free citizens” – quoting one of Germany’s most popular and well-known slogans.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has said Europe should take a leading role in combating climate change to set an example for the United States, China and others, last week steered an EU summit to a bold set of measures to fight global warming.

Among several initiatives, the EU is planning to push for an increased use of energy-saving light bulbs to slash energy consumption and reduce the effects of greenhouse gases.

However, Merkel has brushed aside previous suggestions – most recently last month – that a general speed limit on the autobahn would help fight climate change.

Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Sunday he has “nothing against (a limit) for reasons of traffic safety,” but argued the restriction would not encourage manufacturers to produce more environment-friendly engines.

“This is a secondary front and a trivialization of the climate problem,” he said from Hamburg.

The German Association of the Automotive Industry, which represents such names as Volkswagen, BMW, Porsche and DaimlerChrysler, said Germany needed “no coaching” from Brussels on how to protect the climate – “above all when the proposals are only symbolic.”

“The German auto industry will act on climate change where there is real potential for savings” of vehicle emissions, the group said in a statement.

A spokesman for the Transport Ministry, Dirk Inger, said a study by a federal agency had found that an overall autobahn limit of 100 kilometers per hour – or 62 mph – would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by only 0.6 percent.