Spanish populist party VOX has promised to take the government to court over any climate-crazy policies the national government tries to enforce on regional governments.
VOX has stated that it will pursue legal action against the left-wing national government led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for any measure deemed to be unconstitutional or measures that fall to the roles of the regional governments themselves.
The party, which is part of the government in the region of Castile and León following an election earlier this year, wrote to national Minister of Culture Miquel Iceta from the regions Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sport on the issue, rebuking the national government’s proposed energy policy, El Mundo reports.
Earlier this month, the Spanish government proposed that offices, shops and other venues not be allowed to set air conditioning below 27 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit) in the summer and not raise heating more than 19 degrees Celcius (66 degrees Fahrenheit) in the winter as a way to save energy.
In the letter, VOX proposed that the Spanish Council of Ministers “immediately adopt policies that reduce our now growing energy dependence,” while Castile and León Minister for Culture Gonzalo Santonja called for the government to repeal rules preventing the exploration and extraction of energy sources in Spain.
As energy prices climb in Spain, at least in part due to the effect of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called on Spaniards to help save energy last week by ditching neckties in a bizarre move.
“I’d like you to note that I am not wearing a tie. That means that we can all make savings from an energy point of view,” Prime Minister Sanchez said and added, “So I have asked all ministers and public decision-makers [to follow suit].”
Rising costs of natural gas and other forms of energy have led the European Union to call on member states to reduce their consumption of gas by as much as 15 per cent from August to March of next year.