Germany is a country full of contradictions, and that is also true in passenger transport. Prior to reunification in 1990, West Germany had the highest rate of car ownership in Europe, and the second highest in the world, surpassed only by the USA. East Germany had by far the highest rate of car ownership of any Socialist country. Since reunification, Germany continues to have more cars per capita than all but a few countries. Moreover, its system of limited access superhighways, the autobahns, is the most extensive in Europe and is the only highway system in the world without a general speed limit. Indeed, one sometimes has the impression that the autobahns are racetracks rather than highways. Repeated attempts to legislate a general speed limit for the autobahns have been vigorously opposed by various interest groups and the majority of German voters.

Germany remains the only large country in the world without a general speed limit on highways. One of the main arguments for this policy is that lower speeds represent a travel time cost that is not outweighed by benefits, such as a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. As transport decision making in the European Union is based on cost -benefit analysis (CBA), this paper compares the value of travel time, fuel consumption, infrastructure, crashes, carbon dioxide (CO2), and air pollution. Results suggests that, at the low end of the estimate, a 130 kph speed limit will generate welfare gains in the order of 950 million Euro per year. The 'no speed limit' policy conse-quently represents a subsidy forwarded to fast drivers. The paper also discusses the views of the public vis-`a-vis automobile lobbies, and the relevance of Germany's climate change mitigation law, mandating that transport systems be decarbonized. The CBA suggests that a 130 kph speed limit is a policy field where environmental concerns, positive economic effects, and public opinion can be aligned.

Social polarization can generate opposition to climate policy action but how exactly this occurs is often assumed rather than explicated. Unpacking this influence is important for understanding why oppositional responses to climate policy arise among mass publics. We analyze interpretive mechanisms by which social polarization leads to policy opposition in response to a proposed speed limit on highways in Germany. We employ an abductive process-tracing approach to posit and empirically scrutinize possible interpretive mechanisms of opposition, drawing on secondary data from multiple arenas of public discourse: news media (newspapers), online debate (internet forum posts), and political representation (plenary minutes, party programs, resolutions, public statements by representatives). We find evidence of three interpretive mechanisms by which policy opposition arises, each of which can occur through more than one pathway: 1) skepticism over policy intentions, 2) defense of values, and 3) unrecognized needs and dependencies. This demonstrates how multiple interpretive mechanisms can operate simultaneously, and the need to disentangle them when explaining policy opposition. Moreover, it suggests an opportunity to proactively address interpretive aspects in policy making (e.g., by giving greater attention to how meanings become attached to policies), while also underscoring the deep socio-cultural embeddedness of climate policy action.

Social polarization can generate opposition to climate policy action but how exactly this occurs is often assumed rather than explicated. Unpacking this influence is important for understanding why oppositional responses to climate policy arise among mass publics. We analyze interpretive mechanisms by which social polarization leads to policy opposition in response to a proposed speed limit on highways in Germany. We employ an abductive process-tracing approach to posit and empirically scruti

as the raging Rhine and moseying Mosel. Germany has hundreds of castles, some ruined and mysterious: … about one-quarter ot the United States’. Germany has risen from the ashes ot World War II … Germany famous (or notorious) tor their no-speed-limit system (more fully explained on page