Alexander Franke
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al-f.bsky.social
Alexander Franke
@al-f.bsky.social
Interested in climate and transport policy, working on electric mobility for BMUKN. Views are my own.
Reposted by Alexander Franke
New car joint ventures to "establish [research & development] capacity, produce vehicles meeting contemporary international standards and progressively localise components".

Not an excerpt from the EU Industrial Accelerator Act, but China's 1994 Automobile Industry Policy
August 10, 2026 at 8:29 AM
Reposted by Alexander Franke
France has recorded 1,000 more deaths than usual this month — an increase that can be attributed to the record-breaking heat wave the country has gone through in recent days.
About 1,000 deaths in France attributable to heat wave
Several events have been canceled or postponed in the country to avoid overloading hospitals which are already near their breaking point, especially in the Paris region.
www.politico.eu
June 28, 2026 at 8:40 AM
Reposted by Alexander Franke
1/ 🔌🚗 Neue Zahlen zu Elektroautos:
▶️ Im April 2026 war gut jedes vierte neu zugelassene Auto in Deutschland rein batterieelektrisch (25,8%).
▶️ Damit hat sich der positive Trend der letzten Monate fortgesetzt.
▶️ Das verbesserte Modellangebot und die neuen Kaufprämien dürften sich positiv auswirken.
May 7, 2026 at 12:16 PM
Reposted by Alexander Franke
„Wer den Ausbau der Erneuerbaren verlangsamt, handelt grob fahrlässig, da er Deutschland in einer ineffizienten, teuren Vergangenheit festschreibt.“ Das schreibt CDU-Klimaexperte Thomas Heilmann - und auch wenn er keine Namen nennt, dürfte klar sein, wer gemeint ist…

table.media/ceo/tablesta...
Souveränität, Wohlstand, Stabilität: Warum echte Konservative die Energiewende beschleunigen
Die Energiedebatte ist ideologisch verhärtet: Zwischen „Ende der Energiewende“ und grüner Überhöhung geht der Blick auf Fakten verloren. Thomas Heilmann, CDU-Politiker und Vorsitzender der KlimaUnion,...
table.media
May 9, 2026 at 6:19 AM
Reposted by Alexander Franke
Two weeks ago, the Hungarian opposition was bracing for a false flag operation, an "emergency" that would allow Viktor Orban to turn the tide or even cancel an election he is losing. Now it appears to have arrived
Putin and Orban coordinating on a desperate false flag operation that everyone knew was coming.
April 5, 2026 at 1:01 PM
Reposted by Alexander Franke
1973 wies der @umweltrat.bsky.social wenige Monate vor der Ölkrise in seinem Gutachten "Auto und Umwelt" auf massive geopolitische Risiken im Straßenverkehr aufgrund der hohen Abhängigkeit von Erdölimporten hin.

Die Empfehlung damals: Die zügige Entwicklung von E-Autos und sparsamen Hybriden.
March 12, 2026 at 2:44 PM
Reposted by Alexander Franke
Es ist ja durchaus originell, dass die Union jetzt darauf setzt, dass das Kartellamt bei den Benzinpreisen die neuen Möglichkeiten zur Sektoruntersuchung nutzt, die Robert Habeck eingeführt hat und die die Union laut Wahlprogramm wieder abschaffen wollte.
March 10, 2026 at 5:01 PM
Cost-Benefit analysis without analysing the benefits.
E.P.A. to Stop Considering Lives Saved When Setting Rules on Air Pollution
www.nytimes.com
January 12, 2026 at 11:01 PM
Reposted by Alexander Franke
German auto summit tomorrow.

The sole focus on the EU combustion engine phase-out, which is 10 years away, is baffling because German cars have a demand problem today

Berlin worries a new EV subsidy scheme would be fiscally too expensive.

But demand-side support is a fiscal no-brainer here.

1/
October 8, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Helsinki goes a full year without a traffic death.

"A lot of factors contributed to this, but speed limits are one of the most important"

yle.fi/a/74-20174831
Helsinki goes a full year without a traffic death
A city traffic engineer credits the success to lower speed limits and smarter design.
yle.fi
July 30, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Reposted by Alexander Franke
Great and balanced thread on the implications of the US-EU deal for the European automotive sector - including all the loose nuts and bolts.
European automakers will face 15% tariffs on auto imports under the new U.S.-EU trade deal, compared to the previously threatened 25-30%. This represents a six-fold increase from pre-2025 levels of 2.5%. 1/12
July 29, 2025 at 7:45 PM
What is so maddening about this: MAGA Republicans publicly argued that the US needed to onshore manufacturing and they proposed an ill-conceived tool to do so: tariffs.

All the while they had a successful policy in place to onshore green manufacturing. They are now repealing this policy.
Since the IRA passed, companies have made plans to invest over $843 billion in clean energy projects. But just one-third of that has actually been invested, new data shows. Much of the rest is now at risk.

On the new House Republican plan to dismantle the IRA, with @harrystevens.bsky.social
A Clean Energy Boom Was Just Starting. Now, a Republican Bill Aims to End It.
www.nytimes.com
May 22, 2025 at 9:32 PM
"Basic to the Constitution is habeas corpus, the notion that the government cannot seize your body without a legal justification for doing so. If that does not hold, then nothing else does."
"the president defied a Supreme Court ruling to return a man mistakenly sent to a gulag... and spoke of sending Americans to foreign concentration camps.
This is the beginning of an American policy of state terror, and it has to be identified as such to be stopped"
snyder.substack.com/p/state-terror
State Terror
A brief guide for Americans
snyder.substack.com
April 15, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Lieblingssatz aus dem Koalitionsvertrag bisher: "Auch die Meere sehen wir als digitalen Chancenraum."
April 9, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Reposted by Alexander Franke
Trumpists want to argue for a future-world that doesn't yet exist, in which the tariffs create a perfect equilibrium for US growth. But the tariff plan announced yesterday does exist. We can read it. It does not make sense and is not defensible on its own terms.

www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
April 3, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Trump will offensichtlich globale Degrowth-Politik.
April 3, 2025 at 6:45 AM
Reposted by Alexander Franke
"Das ist mir neulich erst so richtig bewusst geworden: Dass es fast nichts gibt, was Trump und die Leute in seinem Umfeld nicht sagen oder tun. (...) Man muss, so ist das leider, mittlerweile das Schlimmste für möglich halten."

Neuer Newsletter:
Man muss das Schlimmste für möglich halten
Immerhin nicht zu jeder Zeit und überall
beimwort.substack.com
March 8, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Gerhard Schröders Agenda 2010.
Angela Merkels Flüchtlingspolitik 2015.
Friedrich Merz' gelöste Schuldenbremse.

Grundlegende politische Veränderung ist meist dann möglich, wenn die Partei sie durchsetzt, welche sonst Widerstand organisieren würde - der dadurch gesellschaftlich demobilisiert wird.
March 4, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Reposted by Alexander Franke
The Leader of the Free World und daneben Trump und Vance.
Trump: "You're in no position to dictate... You've allowed yourselves to be in a very bad position... You don't have the cards... What you're doing is very disrespectful"

Zelensky: "I'm with all respect."

Vance: "In this entire meeting have you said thank you?"
February 28, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Die Ausübung des Wahlrechts muss für alle StaatsbürgerInnen möglich sein.

Man sollte ernsthaft die Einführung von Auslandswahlkreisen erwägen, um solches organisatorisches Chaos zukünftig zu verhindern.

www.spiegel.de/politik/bund...
(S+) Bundestagswahl: Probleme mit Wahlunterlagen für Deutsche im Ausland
Viele im Ausland lebende Deutsche haben ihre Wahlunterlagen noch nicht bekommen. Für sie wird es fast unmöglich, noch rechtzeitig zu wählen. Manche setzen sich nun kurzerhand in den Flieger.
www.spiegel.de
February 19, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Alexander Franke
It makes me feel better personally as a political scientist but worse as a citizen that even @adamprz.bsky.social is struggling to understand the radical transformation of the American political system. Must read Substack.
I am keeping a diary of daily events, as they unfold open.substack.com/pub/adamprze... It is available to everyone. I am new to Substack, so please let me know if something is wrong with the link or the file.
Diary
Week 1
open.substack.com
February 19, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Carl Schmitt, 1.8.1934:
"Der Führer schützt das Recht vor dem schlimmsten Mißbrauch, wenn er im Augenblick der Gefahr kraft seines Führertums als oberster Gerichtsherr unmittelbar Recht schafft."

Donald Trump, 15.2.2025:
"He who saves his Country does not violate any Law."
„Trump und der neue Faschismus"

Elon Musks Team übernimmt zurzeit in Windeseile die technischen Systeme der US-Bundesverwaltung, teils durch Überrumpelung und Einschüchterung.

Ein hochgefährlicher Vorgang, meint RAINER MÜHLHOFF (@rainermuehlhoff.bsky.social).

verfassungsblog.de/trump-und-de...
February 15, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Reposted by Alexander Franke
Der frühere Bundesinnenminister Gerhart Baum ist tot. Er war aktiv und mischte sich bis ins hohe Alter ein. Und er litt bis zuletzt an seiner FDP.
Gerhart Baum (FDP) ist tot: Nachruf auf den letzten aufrechten Liberalen
Der frühere Bundesinnenminister Gerhart Baum ist tot. Er war aktiv und mischte sich bis ins hohe Alter ein. Und er litt bis zuletzt an seiner FDP.
www.spiegel.de
February 15, 2025 at 7:55 PM
"The IMF estimates that Europe’s internal barriers are equivalent to a tariff of 45% for manufacturing and 110% for services. [...] trade across EU countries is less than half the level of trade across US states. As activity shifts more towards services, their overall drag on growth becomes worse."
Recent weeks have provided a stark reminder of Europe’s vulnerabilities, writes the former president of the European Central Bank and former prime minister of Italy www.ft.com/content/13a8...
February 14, 2025 at 10:15 PM