January 26th, 2014
Everyone knows Italy is a wide open
museum indoors and outdoors. Everywhere you go, everywhere you look
there is some historical sight. “Italy is home to the greatest
number of UNESCO
World
Heritage Sites to date, and according to one estimate the country
is home to half the world's great art treasures.* The nation has,
overall, an estimated 100,000 monuments of any sort (churches,
cathedrals, archaeological sites, houses and statues).”** And that
does not cover the fabulous unique landscapes of oak woods, rolling
hills, vineyards and olive groves.
The economy of Italy is not the best
right now. It does have the advantage of being one big museum to
bank on. But what is happening often, is the Italians themselves are
ruining their own country – in the name of progress. For example
in Tuscany a mega private multinational power company (on the stock
market
and has investors waiting for profits), Terna, has planned a huge double power line
“Razionalizzazione Arezzo” from Santa Barbara to Montesansavino that cuts right through dear beautiful
Tuscany in the southern Chianti and Siena areas - rural Tuscany where tourism gives value to the territory and
jobs to the locals. Where beauty is the important attraction and for good reason, it is one of the most beautiful areas in the world. The super powerful project-makers (highly practiced in strategies for their own benefit)
say it is a necessary project, in the name of public interest but
the country does not even have an Energy program. These are brand new highly invasive projects that have nothing to do with less invasive "rationalizing" of the old lines orginally planned.
Fine, if it is necessary, it is
necessary. But plan it properly. Don't insist on hitting on
the fewest numbers (and the most defenceless) of people involved as if that makes it okay (and easier to pass the deal!) - each
single person is important and has intrinsic value. Terna tries to suggest that
they are hiding the power lines by putting them through the woods, but
the pylons tower well above the woods. They don't consider in the
Winter there are no leaves on the trees. They think the 3cm width
wires are invisible to the eye. Invading the countryside at the rate
they are going, there will be no untouched areas down the road.
There is a group of highly educated/cultured individuals who are very
concerned with the project, active for the last three years: Comitato di Alta Tensione representing a large populance. Terna has
the gumption so to say the Comitato or anyone against the project
suffers from NIMBY (not in my back yard) syndrome. It's a way to
belittle the local residents affected by the disasterous opera, to make them look like they are selfish
and anti patriotic. Excuse me, if the locals don't defend a
territory, who is going to? What Terna is really saying is “It is
not in my back yard” we are going to put it in yours and accuse
you of self-centeredness – you can bet none of them live in area
with projected pylons as high as the Tower of Pisa! It is a slap in the face to pretend people affected by major “highway” power lines just sit back and take it and
not defend an area they love, have enhanced, invested a lot of time and
money on and paid taxes for. They are doing it for themselves, their neighbours, the population of the world and generations to come. Hats off to them.
"Wendell Berry: There’s a lot of scorn now toward people who say,
“Not in my backyard,” but the not-in-my-backyard sentiment is one of
the most valuable that we have. If enough people said, “Not in my
backyard,” these bad innovations wouldn’t be in anybody’s backyard.
It’s your own backyard you’re required to protect because in doing so
you’re defending everybody’s backyard. It is altogether healthy and
salutary."
Thankfully these NIMBY's are not alone and
have the Region (State) and local
Politicians of 7 communities on their side, as well as the Ministry of Culture, but it
awaits the okay from the Ministry of the Environment who has the last word. You would think they would be the first to defend the area, but it isn't so. The Committee has
presently over 7000 signatures of concerned local and international people on their petition.
It's about time Italy seriously started
investing in it's own country in ways to beautify it further, it is a goldmine under their feet, a gift to humanity, a responsibility to mankind to preserve it well. The landscape is one of it's
treasures. It's a small country and "cementified" hugely already. It's so very easy to
ruin it. Spending more on hiding these power lines and planning them
better is well spent, an investment in the future. Why not couple them with the highways,
railways and areas already compromised, how about putting them
underground? Terna is investing a great deal in lines that travel
under the sea why not under ground too? Once they invade areas with 45 meter high power lines and their sentries,
they never go back to what they once were.
 |
| Assesore di Montevarchi Piero Francini signing petition |
The High Tension Committee “Comitato Alta Tensione”
has an online petition anyone can sign. If you are interested in
helping towards preserving Tuscany's integrity and natural beauty from these devastating monster lines, please go to the site
and sign the online petition. We can all be NIMBY's and NIYBY (not in your back yard) and proud of it. We can help the Italians defend their territory. Visit the Comitato Alta Tensione site in English and the Facebook page.
*UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Web. 25 Sep. 2011.
**Beni Italiani Unesco. Associazione Città e Siti Unesco. Web. 17 Jul. 2012.
**Beni Italiani Unesco. Associazione Città e Siti Unesco. Web. 17 Jul. 2012.
