The Minister for the Environment said today that she would have liked to hitch a ride to the Parliament, a choice she described as at once promoting a healthy lifestyle and conserving energy, but she argued that her governmental duties prevent her.
Maria da Graça Carvalho made this remark during the second day of the general debate on the Government’s proposal for the 2027 State Budget, in response to an intervention by Patrícia Carvalho, a deputy from Chega.
Patrícia Carvalho criticized the Minister for the Environment and Energy for suggesting hitching a ride as a solution for the generality of Portuguese people to face the rise in fuel costs. She then said that, unlike Maria da Graça Carvalho, the Portuguese “do not have the State to pay for their fuel costs”.
In response to the Chega deputy, the Minister for the Environment and Energy stated: “I simply don’t hitch a ride because I can’t hitch a ride, and one of the things that costs me most as a member of the Government is having to travel with a driver.”
“I like walking,” she added, and was then widely applauded by the PSD deputies.
In the debate, on behalf of the Liberal Initiative, Jorge Miguel Teixeira raised the issue of the purchase of REN, amounting to about 500 million euros, decided by the current Government, and asked the minister to explain to what extent the State’s entry into that company would contribute to lowering electricity prices.
Maria da Graça Carvalho observed that REN is a company in a strategically important sector for national sovereignty and that Portugal was the only European Union country that was absent. She also argued that the State’s entry into this energy transmission company would be relevant to achieving the objective of ensuring the economy’s competitiveness.
On the part of the PCP, the parliamentary leader, Paula Santos, protested against the “speculation around fuel prices” and against “the obscene profits of the oil companies.” She also expressed concern about the possible end of regulated electricity tariffs in 2027.
According to the minister, on the matter of regulated electricity tariffs, the Government “will still have this year to decide how to proceed in relation to that.”
Meanwhile, PS deputy Pedro Vaz gave a generic political intervention and accused the PSD/CDS Government of “being behind the times, not having new ideas,” merely “managing the inheritance” left in the sector.
“This Government and this Prime Minister are no longer present,” declared Pedro Vaz, in a question that followed the challenge by the Livre co-spokesperson, Jorge Pinto, who raised the issue of protests by the populations of the municipality of Boticas regarding the lithium exploration project in Cova do Barroso.
“That project was declared of national interest, with an environmental license in 2023. According to everyone, there was no dialogue with the population. At this moment, we comply with the law and let this project proceed,” clarified Maria da Graça Carvalho.
In response to PAN deputy Inês de Sousa Real, who attacked the “lobbies” of agriculture, the Minister for the Environment defended that the Government “has done everything to protect the Iberian wolf, contrary to the trend recorded in other European countries.”
