On the day the CDM approved the decree-law for the construction of the bridge over the Strait of Messina, the “people of no” protested again, punctual as a Swiss watch. After «no Tap», «no Tav», «no Muos» and so many others (impossible to list them all), now it’s time for «no bridge», who gathered yesterday in front of Montecitorio for a flash of protest -mob , organized by Alleanza Verdi and Sinistra, against the construction of an infrastructure whose works, after years of discussions and proclamations, should finally start soon. The reasons that “no bridge” offers to the debate are, in summary, essentially two: on the one hand, the alleged anachronism of infrastructures, considered not “green” enough; on the other hand, the idea that the approximately 10 billion euros foreseen for its construction could and should be spent on more urgent and useful works for the south of the country.
This last argument, in particular, was reiterated yesterday by Angelo Bonelli, national co-spokesperson for Europa Verde and deputy of Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra, whose criticism of the project extended, by osmosis, to Matteo Salvini, the main supporter of the project. “Salvini takes the bridge over the Strait to the Council of Ministers, while the South is experiencing a disaster,” said Bonelli during the flashmob. It is irresponsible, because anyone who knows Sicily and Calabria well knows the state of infrastructure in those territories. And in this situation, they would like to spend 10 billion euros on Salvini’s follies. On the contrary, we must invest in concrete improvements for the South, such as reinforcing trains and repairing aqueducts and water networks”.
And Legambiente expressed itself yesterday in more or less the same vein: «The real urgency to be addressed in a decree-law is the exit from the construction sites for the ecological transition necessary for the movement of citizens and goods in Calabria and Sicily as in a civilized country and contribute to combating the climate crisis – explained the president of the association in a note. We need to reinforce the infrastructure for sustainable mobility, with electrified lines and double track with modern trains, and not a cathedral in the obvious desert of mobility like the bridge over the Strait of Messina».
In addition to a certain “benaltrism” present in some of the “no bridge” arguments (the construction of the bridge would not necessarily prevent investment in other infrastructures, such as new railways, for example) and getting to the heart of the matter, the the project’s supporters have, among other things, several studies (among the most recent, that of FareAmbiente) which, on the contrary, would confirm how much a similar infrastructure is, in addition to being useful, also very “green”.
In fact, the bridge would significantly reduce ship and road transport emissions thanks to the construction of a high-speed rail line, according to a study commissioned by Rotary District 2110 Sicily and Malta. «By replacing naval traffic with railway traffic on the Bridge», the document reads, the annual average of carbon dioxide emissions «would decrease by 94% and that of carbon monoxide by 72%», reaching a reduction of «140,000 tons per year of carbon dioxide emissions alone.
Source: IL Tempo
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
