Toulouse. The mayor’s energy sobriety plan, “it’s pale green” for environmentalists
By Guillaume Laurent
Published on
“Incoherent and half-hearted”. This is how environmentalists qualify this Friday, October 14, 2022 the energy sobriety plan of Toulouse, unveiled by the mayor (LR) on Thursday. Jean-Luc Moudenc has indeed announced 25 key measures “to consume better and less”, with in particular the reduction in the frequency of the metro at off-peak hours, and the extinction of the Christmas lights at 10 p.m. “Nothing extraordinary”, sweeps their leader Antoine Maurice, “it’s pale green”. The elected official even awards the first magistrate “a red alert on transport”.
“Measures taken by all major cities”
This plan “above all takes up regulatory measures taken by the State”, scoff in particular the environmentalists, for whom the mayor of the 4e city of France does not offer anything innovative.
“We find there in particular measures taken by all the big cities, including regulatory obligations applying in fact to all communities: the regulation of heating at 19°C and the cut off of domestic hot water in buildings. administrative”.
A “positive step forward” on the extinction of public lighting
Once is not custom, they greet “a positive step forward” : the announcement of “the extinction of public lighting between midnight and 5 a.m. Co-president of the green group in the Metropolis, Thomas Karman deplores however “the time wasted on this subject, considering that all the municipalities around Toulouse have already committed to the extinction of public lighting, a measure of common sense”.
When Moudenc undertook to “rekindle Toulouse”
Still on this subject, Isabelle Hardy does not fail to recall: “The nocturnal extinction of public buildings had been put in place during the mandate of Pierre Cohen and strongly opposed by Jean-Luc Moudenc, who had campaigned in 2014 with the objective of ‘reigniting Toulouse’, which actually consisted in inducing Toulouse in the energy mismanagement ”. At the time, the energy crisis did not exist, and the candidate Moudenc had indeed committed to… turn on the light at night, to, he would explain, bring a certain number of places affected by insecurity out of obscurity, but also to enhance the heritage.
Less metro and Téléo? “Nonsense” for Antoine Maurice
To reduce Tisséo’s electricity consumption – whose annual bill will soar from 6 million euros in 2022 to 30 million in 2023 – Jean-Luc Moudenc has also announced measures aimed at reduce the frequency of passage of the two metro lines in off-peak hours – of “a few tens of seconds”, according to the mayor -, but also to interrupt the service of the urban cable car Teleo at 10 p.m., instead of 12:30 a.m. For Antoine Maurice, president of the environmental group at the town hall, “the reduction in metro and cable car service is nonsense”.
“Energy sobriety does not mean having an accounting and austerity logic. It is a very bad signal sent at a time when we need public transport… Jean-Luc Moudenc attacks alternatives to the individual car, which which is completely contrary to the issues of the moment”.
This choice is “irresponsible” according to the Greens, for whom “the mayor of Toulouse persists in building new roads (the East Junction), refuses to study the metropolitan RER project”, even though “the network does not already meet the needs”.
Beyond these new measures, “it has been lowering the service for a while”, insists Antoine Maurice: “The reality is that it is trying to save money on Tisséo”.
In the eyes of the chosen one, Toulouse suffered better “to prohibit illuminated billboards by revising its local advertising regulations”, which would have “no impact for transport users”.
Ecologists urging “a massification of thermal renovation”
Considering that “significant sources of energy savings are to be found in the building sector”, ecologists finally plead for “a massification of thermal renovation public buildings and housing. According to Antoine Maurice, “some toulouse schools are in a deplorable state and it is not a million euros, as announced, that will allow a real comprehensive renovation plan for school groups to be carried out”.
As for the private accommodation, they believe that “the community must be an organizer, increase its aid and solicit the State”. While Jean-Luc Moudenc has undertaken to launch, “as of this winter, targeted communication campaigns to offer the help of the Metropolis to owners whose property requires renovation”, Antoine Maurice retorts: “On this subject , it’s time to stop communicating and take action”.
“The subject is to see how we do better on aid in the private sector. Because the Métropole can do better and must increase the volume of its aid. Over one year, only 3,328 energy renovation bonuses were granted by the community, for 2.1 million euros, while 13% of the population, or 47,466 households, were in a situation of fuel poverty at the end of 2019”.
The ecologist, who regrets that “Jean-Luc Moudenc does nothing to weigh so that the State takes its place” in this file, calls on the mayor-president to “challenge the government”. At the next Metropolitan Council, Thursday, October 20, his group will also submit a wish “for the State to support a bill allowing full support for energy renovation housing “.
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