LMP proposes ‘national consultation’ about renewables

The energy crisis is caused by the country’s dependence on fossil fuel imports, not by sanctions against Russia, Mate Kanasz-Nagy told a press conference, referring to the government’s “National Consultation” public survey launched last week on the sanctions which features a question on sanctions against gas.

“Every measure that increases, and not reduces, our dependence on fossil fuels, will exacerbate the energy crisis,” he said.

People should therefore be asked about solutions such as the authorisation of wind energy use, abolishing the tax on the use of solar energy and the implementation of building insulation programmes, Kanasz-Nagy added.

“Instead of preparing people for the energy and climate crisis, which had been foreseeable, the government has exposed them to it,” he said.

Kanasz-Nagy regarded remarks made by two ministers in connection with the country’s energy policy as “self-critical”. He said that Finance Minister Mihaly Varga had called gas imports “unsustainable” and the energy-saving programmes implemented in the past years “modest”. Kanasz-Nagy also noted that Technology and Industry Minister Laszlo Palkovics had advocated the use of “a more diverse energy mix” in Hungary “now, when the era of cheap gas is over”.