Political Germany is looking eagerly to Saxony and Thuringia this weekend, where new state parliaments will be elected. Despite increasing heat and rainfall, despite the strong expansion of renewables and ambitious plans for climate neutrality, the climate crisis has hardly been an issue in the election campaign. Or if it has, then only as an opportunity to criticize the German government. It is easy to forget how important the federal states are for the energy transition and climate action. The 16 federal states cannot implement a successful climate policy on their own – but they can cause all plans to fail if they put the brakes on and block them.