A German study found that that the car of Andreas Scheuer, federal minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, is the most environmentally harmful among the vehicles of other German cabinet members.
Experts from a local environmental organization said Scheuer’s car produces the highest "real" carbon emissions although it is a hybrid vehicle that uses diesel and electric powers.
The study also found that the cars of the Minister of Justice Christine Lambrecht and the Minister of Environment Svenja Schulze, both from the Social Democratic Party (SPD), have lower emissions than Scheuer's car.
According to the German news agency, the car of Michael Müller, Berlin's mayor, was again the least on the list of the most environmentally harmful government cars.
The transport ministry rejected the claims about his car, saying the "real" emissions term used by the organization does not consider the official data on standard emissions given by automakers, which is lower than what is used in the assessment.
In its study, the organization relied on the data of the International Clean Transport Council. The study did not look at the emissions of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's car, or those of the defense, interior, finance and foreign ministers.
