Municipal elections in Piedmont, zero votes for the climatologist Luca Mercalli candidate for Usseaux: «Not even Pope Francis is listened to on the climate»

OfFloriana Rullo

The Turin scholar has a cabin in the village and collaborates with the municipality for the recovery of traditional structures. «It was an experiment. If Pope Francis can’t make a change for the climate, let alone me.” Because he didn’t even vote for himself

“The zero votes taken? 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.”

Luca Mercalliclimatologist and president of Italian Meteorological Society became known thanks to the broadcast What’s the weather like, he aspired to the position of councilor of a small Piedmontese village. But he is ready to comment ironically on the result of his candidacy Usseaux, in the upper Turin area. Candidate with list la Beautiful from Val Chisone he collected zero votes from the country of 180 inhabitants not far from Oulxwhere he chose to live.

So the climatologist didn’t even vote alone. Why? It’s actually not strange, why he couldn’t vote for yourself it is easy to say, and Mercalli himself explains it: «I am not a resident in the village, but still in Almese, despite now living there.”

It is curious to observe how Mercalli’s electoral flop occurred in the same electoral cycle that saw the Greens do very well in the European elections. But Mercalli has his own explanation for this too: «It’s true that both Verdi and Verdi did well, but they still remain small numbers, not up to environmental challenges. Nobody sees the environment as a supreme good that must be preserved.”

A decision he respects and took philosophically. «I laugh about it. I certainly don’t need to be elected to have notoriety – he explains -. When I accepted, I did it to start from the bottom with the fight for the climate. And the proposal of my friend and candidate for mayor Alberto Sasso it was interesting. But if it doesn’t succeed Pope francesco to make a change for the climate, let alone if I can do it. Although over the years I have had several offers 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.”

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