To the Person imago/Reiner Zensen Ulrike Höfken Minister of the environment of Rhineland-Palatinate in 2011. The Green party politician has studied agriculture and was in the job.
MIRROR ONLINE: woman Höfken, in Mainz, the most important air measuring station is located closer to an intersection than the EU requires. Authorities count on this way, the air quality is poor, so that there are driving bans?
Ulrike Höfken: , The Station is there, according to the EU air quality Directive fully compliant – since 39 years. The distance of 23.5 meters.
MIRROR ONLINE: required by The EU to 25 meters, but in many places in Germany. Even a slight change in positioning can have different measurement results. And the Parcusstraße in Mainz, Germany, the limit value is exceeded only slightly.
Höfken: The distance of 25 meters is not required by the EU, but is for orientation purposes with the formulation: “to the extent possible”. One and a half Meter difference in the measurement. The installation location must meet numerous criteria. At the Parcusstraße is given.
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MIRROR ONLINE: That sounds a bit like the car industry: exhaust gas cleaning, we do it only when it is possible and not the Motor harm.
Höfken: This is an immoral comparison. VW has made to the criminal fraud not guilty.
MIRROR ONLINE: , The Federal Ministry of transport wants to let the locations of all the stations in the country check. Makes Rhineland-Palatinate?
Höfken: , We check the sites regularly. The Minister can’t just do what he wants.
MIRROR ONLINE: you do not take part in the Inspections.
Höfken: comply with Our own controls, using Passive samplers, we conduct quality checks. Nobody has an interest in ensuring that monitoring stations be set up in a wrong place.
MIRROR ONLINE: Should not be measuring outcomes nationally comparable? It is unfair, if there is in a town with a driving ban, where the Station is very close to the intersection, while elsewhere – is also measured in foreign – different, and there is no ban on driving.
Höfken: There may be differences in the measurement results, because the cities lie in boilers or less Wind is blowing. The measurements themselves are in conformity with the law and by the EU. Debt to the limit, not the stations, but the machinations of the car industry are exceeded.
MIRROR ONLINE: Green politicians to use the measurement results sometimes sent. In Hesse, a green Ministry of overruns reported shortly before the state election, suddenly, a further measurement station for Frankfurt to Berlin – with a high threshold value. Therefore, Frankfurt’s prohibition hardly a minute to save. The Greens want to prevent bans, but also allegedly?
Höfken: Yes, we don’t want any bans. But the Federal government wants to legitimize limit value is exceeded and want to change, even laws.
MIRROR ONLINE: the Modification of The Immission control act is to allow a certain limit value is exceeded. In any case, you’d have kept the Frankfurt possibly a driving ban. The new measuring station showed up.
Höfken: This change in the law is a violation of law. It’s going to be a legitimization of the excess of the existing limit value for nitrogen dioxide by 25 percent, to the detriment of the health of the population. The credibility of the policy takes massive damage due to the attitude of the Federal government. The same thing is used with the AfD.
MIRROR ONLINE: In France have recently protested the hundreds of thousands against higher taxes on Diesel. So you had not expected, when you bought the supposedly clean cars. In Germany, many diesel drivers complain about the loss of value by driving bans. They fear similar protests in this country?
Höfken: We are on the side of the motorist and of the population. We request, as all countries together in the conference of environment Ministers, the industry, to upgrade old diesel cars in Germany with exhaust gas cleaning systems – on their costs.
