After the tragedy in Japan, the
national government should take the time to rethink its plans to build new
nuclear power plants. It should not make any decisions before the results of
the referendum,’ said Enrico Rossi, president of the Tuscan Region, during a
recent radio interview with Milan’s Radio Popolare station.
‘After
the events in Fukushima, a period of reflection is needed. We need to invest more
consciously in new forms of renewable energy: solar, wind, and geothermal. On
June 12, Italians will vote in a referendum on nuclear energy. The majority
government tried to schedule it closer to the summer, so it would not coincide
with the administrative elections in hopes of getting a low turnout. But at
this point, after the Japanese tragedy, I believe that many citizens will vote
and they will do so consciously. Surveys suggest that the majority is against
nuclear power,’ Rossi explained.
Rossi
also gave a failing grade to Italy’s national energy plan because it does not
rely enough on renewable sources of clean energy: ‘I think that a region’s duty
is also that of demonstrating, through the use of renewable forms of energy,
that Italy can gain a lot … In Tuscany, we also have geothermal energy,
which, if we were to depend on it more, could resolve many problems, starting
first with providing heat for residential homes.’