«»Fabio Fazio’s program Che Tempo Che Fa must not be followed much in Usseaux, a small town of 180 inhabitants in the Turin area, not far from the border with France. Or at least, not the segment dedicated to the climate and the environment and edited by Luca Mercalli, well-known and passionate scientific communicator. As a candidate in the municipal elections held in recent days in what is considered one of the most beautiful villages in Italy, he received zero votes. And if it is true that in the end there were 127 valid votes, it is also true that not being able to obtain even a handful of preferences was a real surprise. Not even the climatologist was able to vote: six years ago he moved to Ouix, about twenty kilometers as the crow flies, but his residence is still in Almese, on the outskirts of Turin. «The zero votes obtained? They surprised me. They used the same indifference that they use for the environment. And to think that someone wanted me to be Minister of the Environment”, he commented almost amusedly Corriere della Sera the president of the Italian Meteorological Society, «I laugh about it. I certainly don’t need to be elected to have notoriety. When I accepted, I did so to start from the bottom with the fight for the climate. And the proposal of my friend and mayoral candidate Alberto Sasso was interesting. But if Pope Francis can’t make a change for the climate, imagine if I can do it.” Such a disappointing electoral result makes even more noise in a session in which the Greens, in coalition with the Italian Left in the Avs acronym, achieved an excellent result. «It’s true that both Verdi and Verdi did well, but they still remain small numbers, not up to the environmental challenges. Nobody sees the environment as a supreme good that must be preserved”, said Mercalli, “over the years I have had several proposals to enter politics, especially from the Greens. We wanted to transform one of the most beautiful villages in Italy into a cutting-edge municipality, a leader in environmental issues. But above all, transform the town into a tourist destination. For me, however, it is not a failure. I am a man of science and every experiment is useful. Even the wrong ones.”
