Being one of the few countries in Europe which still has sovereignty, the Swiss electorate today voted down the country’s new climate law, the CO2 Gesetz, by a 51.5% majority. While the No voters uncorked their champagne bottles, the climate lobby spoke of a “black day for climate protection” and a “pile of broken glass for Swiss climate protection” according to an article in the Cash financial/economic website.
The law would have caused a steep rise in the cost of living, which is already high in the country. Everyone would have been affected by increases in fuel prices, taxes and higher energy costs.
The only cantons where the Yes vote won were in Basel-Stadt, Geneva, Neuchâtel, Vaud and Zürich. These are the major cities, but by no means do they constitute the largest part of the population, since the country is decentralized.
The rural population came out strongly for No, since there were also other objectionable referenda on the ballot that directly affect these sectors, such as one restricting pesticides. But there is still more to the No vote.
There was strong support for No from political parties. The Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which is the largest, was totally against it. The Liberals (FDP), which is a substantial party, were split, with a substantial faction against it. Both mobilized strongly. Also industry associations, including the fuel, gasoline, diesel distributors association, the National Automobile Club, the Aerodrome Association, which includes everything from small airfields to Zürich and Basel international airports, all mobilized against it. The homeowners association and the smaller business associations also mobilized strongly to bring much of the middle classes behind the No vote.
A lot of credit goes to the conversative SVP party, which pushed very hard for the No vote, arguing that the proposed CO2 Act would not only cost more, but its effectiveness is questionable anyway. The SVP is said to have won over voters from well beyond their normal base of support.
Expressing disappointment Environment Minister Simonetta Sommaruga claimed, “The no to the CO2 law is not a no to climate protection.” However, she conceded, “It will now be difficult to achieve the Paris climate targets.” It will not take a long time to draft a new compromise law.
This is not the first time the majority of the Swiss refused to accept excessive personal privations and economic losses demanded by the climate change freaks. In 2000, three proposals to tax non-renewable energies were rejected, as were various other initiatives. Nonetheless, in 2017 there was a Yes vote for the phaseout of nuclear energy, which is substantial in Switzerland.
Also last month the Swiss government pulled out of negotiations with the European Union that would have deepened their relationship with the EU, and included the loss of Swiss sovereign powers. They pulled out knowing that such an agreement would never get past a referendum.
Now the question is, will this have a blowback effect into the EU, where there is growing opposition to the climate change policies? Already Poland is up in arms over being forced to close down their coal industry, which supplies 65% of its electricity. Or in Germany, where the opposition has been afraid to publicly oppose the insane German energy policy, and which will hold hotly contested national elections in September.
