This winter in Germany, energy conservation is the primary event. Energy conservation propaganda is being carried out at bus stations across the country, and politicians appear every day to warn people to save energy. The outdoor light box should be turned off; some people suggest that the street lights should also be turned off as much as possible.
There are also news warnings for the public to prepare all supplies to deal with large-scale power outages that may exceed 72 hours.
Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey even said on a talk show that it is "reasonable" to have a power outage for two or three hours.
However, while citizens are honestly saving electricity, the Berlin government is going to hold a large laser show. The Berlin Light Festival opened in Berlin today for 9 days. During this period, many landmarks such as Brandenburg Gate, Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin TV Tower will be illuminated until late at night.
The sponsor of this event is the Mayor of Berlin, Ji Fei, who told the public that the power outage is reasonable. Even German media exclaimed: Is Ms. Jifei's brain "wat"?
In order to block the mouth, the Berlin Senate came forward to say that the scale of the program this year will be smaller than last year and the energy used will be reduced by 75%.
Despite this, there are still constant criticism.
For example, Alexander Dobrindt, the head of the parliamentary party group of CSU, accused Jifei: "Instead of telling the public that the power outage is normal, it is better to stop the power outage. Jifei is playing with Habeck to get rid of the power outage."
Saxony's representative in Berlin Clemens (Conrad) (Saxony's representative in Berlin) Clemens also reminded: "Saxony has also received an invitation, but we refused. We were shocked to hear the news that the Light Festival will continue this year. This is not the right way."
Although everyone knows that this is not the right way, it cannot stop politicians from saying one thing and doing another.
At the end of July this year, similar things also happened in the Bundestag. During the summer vacation of the recess, even though the Bundestag was empty, even during the day, the parliament building was brightly lit, and the indoor temperature remained at 22 degrees under the hot temperature. This situation lasted for a full 3 weeks.
Not only that, brightly colored lasers illuminate the entire federal parliament building every night. It also comes with 30 speakers to play loud music.
When asked by reporters, Parliament Speaker Bass couldn't say how much energy and taxes would be wasted. She only knows that such laser performance costs 2500 euros every day.
According to German media calculations, the total cost of lighting and refrigeration in the Bundestag is as high as 50,000 euros/day , and at least half can be saved during the entire recess.
Starting this week, the European Parliament is also discussing whether to give up holding a parliament in Strasbourg Parliament Building this winter, and instead hold a meeting in Brussels instead.
The reason is that EU does not have to bear two parliamentary buildings that are fully heated and lighting. Letting the parliament building in Strasbourg enter hibernation can save more energy.
Vice President of the European Parliament, Katarina Barley, said that the European Parliament's natural gas and electricity costs increased by 8.4 million euros in 2022.
Among them, the cost of electricity soared from 7 million to 21.3 million, and the cost of natural gas increased from 1.7 million to 5.8 million.
And in Strasbourg, even without a plenary meeting, all rooms remained at room temperature at 23 degrees and were brightly lit.
European Parliament Member Dennis Radtke was very angry about this: "Even the government can't turn off the lights during the day, so how can we ask others to save money? As politicians, we cannot hold our index fingers and teach people how to save electricity everywhere. We must set an example."
Has noted whether the parliament building in Strasbourg will hibernate. Maybe it will only make a decision at the next meeting at the end of October.
