When the Green party conference begins on Friday, Lützerath is very close.

There is only around 60 kilometers as the crow flies between the congress center in Bonn and the village on the edge of the Garzweiler brown coal opencast mine.

The fact that Lützerath is now to be dredged, as agreed by the energy company RWE and the federal government in view of the impending energy shortages in winter, is an impertinence for many Greens - another one this year.

The construction of liquid gas terminals on Germany’s coasts, negotiations on gas supplies with authoritarian regimes such as Qatar, the planned operation of two nuclear power plants: if Robert Habeck, one of their own, was not responsible for all of this, the Greens would have long since questioned the continued existence of the traffic light coalition .

Others also see the decisions of the Federal Minister of Economics as an impertinence - but in the opposite way.

More nuclear power, more gas, more coal has been echoing at Habeck for weeks, from business associations, the Union and also from the FDP, which, after its defeat in Lower Saxony, is positioning itself more than before as an internal government opposition.

Despite the recent price declines, gas is still almost four times what it was a year ago.

As a result, electricity has also become significantly more expensive.

This is a problem, especially for energy-intensive companies.

The warnings of de-industrialization are getting louder, the president of the chemical association VCI even sees Germany on the way to becoming an “industrial museum”.

Is the first Green Federal Minister of Economics in the history of the Federal Republic a threat to the country's prosperity?

To accuse Habeck of planning to deindustrialize Germany in order to help left-wing activists' fantasies of "degrowth" achieve a breakthrough is certainly exaggerated.

He's too "Realo" for that and, see above, he's put the interests of the country ahead of his party too often in recent months.

The criticism that Habeck has to put up with, however, is that he is not doing enough to limit the economic upheaval that the Ukraine war is causing in this country.

He doesn't want to hurt the companies, but he could help them more.

Expansion of renewables too slow

This applies above all to energy policy.

The expansion of renewables has so far been sluggish, even under green leadership.

And even if it were now to pick up speed rapidly: It is still unclear how production and heating should be carried out in a decarbonized Germany in winters with little sun and wind.

Habeck and his fellow Greens at state secretary level have wasted valuable time tinkering with the gas levy, as well as with delaying tactics on the nuclear issue.

The Greens categorically rule out the urgently needed extension of the service life beyond April 2023, as does gas production by means of fracking, although Germany would then not have to import fracking gas from America at “moon prices” (quote Habeck).

To make matters worse, the next exit date is set:

In North Rhine-Westphalia, there should be an end to coal in 2030, which is also in the agreement with RWE.

This year is Habeck's reparation to his party for leaving Lützerath.

Under these circumstances, it is understandable that companies should consider locating new factories in America, where gas costs only a tenth of what it does here.

Especially since the other problems of Germany as a business location - the high corporate taxes, the bureaucracy, the lack of skilled workers - have not miraculously disappeared.

On the contrary: if the Greens had their way, the income tax rate would not be adjusted for inflation.

For the more than two million entrepreneurs who are subject to this tax, this would have meant an additional burden.

The fact that some managers now want the CDU man Peter Altmaier, who was once so scolded, back to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, gives an idea of ​​how frustrated the Greens' economic policy has become.

The calculation would be quite simple: if economic output shrinks, tax revenue will also shrink and with it the state's leeway to distribute money.

In addition to climate protection, social policy is the second programmatic cornerstone of the Greens.

For that reason alone, it should actually be in the interest of the party to do everything in its power to ensure that companies in Germany find the best possible conditions.