An Umbria-Marche interregional committee to say no to industrial wind power in the Apennine belt, in light of the numerous projects that private companies are gradually presenting to the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security. Its members include several committees that have been formed over time to denounce the risk of losing the mountain and its peculiarities if the wind farm proposals that ended up on the Mase tables are followed up. The meeting of last June 25th was part of this perspective, promoted by the committee “Another idea for the Apennines” of Nocera Umbra, which saw the presence of other committees and representatives of the territories of Foligno, Valtopina, Nocera Umbra , Gualdo Tadino, Serravalle di Chienti, Camerino and Pieve Torina, to analyze and deepen the situation which currently sees, projects in hand, the possible construction in the Umbrian-Marche mountains of approximately 70 towers with a height of 180 to 200 metres, “which – say the promoters in a note – they will irreversibly transform the natural context of the mountain territories, both in the Umbria Region and in the Marche Region.
The feared risk, as mentioned, is that “the peculiarities and panoramic, naturalistic, environmental values and biodiversity of areas that are unsuitable and incompatible for industrial interventions of this nature and scale will be compromised in an irreversible manner” with a “radical transformation of the panoramas of the entire valley, hill and mountain range of the upper Topino valley and the plain of Nocera Umbra and Gualdo Tadino, of the Folignate and Spoletina valley and of the eastern views from the Monte Subasio Park, while, on the Marche side, it will have a heavy impact on the bordering areas of the Colfiorito, Camerino, Monte Cavallo and Pieve Torina plateaus”. For the promoters of this battle “an indispensable heritage for the maintenance and development of the hilly and mountain communities, which are the socio-economic backbone of the Apennine ridge and still resist and strenuously oppose the continuous depopulation”. “The construction of these plants, which do not determine any economic-employment impact – they continue – cannot be the answer and solution for the new mountain generations”.
Furthermore, it reiterated “the importance of renewable energy but also the non-sharing of the aggression to our territories, carried out in a context in which the climate crisis is often used as a pretext by wind energy entrepreneurs, who decide where and how to build plants, without taking into account the wishes of the communities involved, disconnected from the contents of regional, provincial and municipal urban planning and without considering and respecting the geological, panoramic, naturalistic, archaeological, agricultural and socio-economic characteristics of each territory”.
The game, as underlined, will be played “on the implementation of the ministerial guidelines, which will dictate the general framework with respect to which the individual Regions will have to proceed to the identification of the areas suitable and not suitable for the installation of wind and photovoltaic systems”. A process that, they say, cannot be implemented “without real participation and direct involvement of the population, associations and committees of the territories involved”. This request will be submitted to the Regions of Umbria and Marche but also to the municipal administrations of the areas involved. “Furthermore, the distribution of energy needs (bourden sharing) due to each Region for the 2030 objectives of the Pniec will have to be carefully evaluated – they add – which will have to be equally distributed across the entire regional territory. At the moment, in Umbria 20 percent of the energy needs are concentrated on just 2.5% of the regional territory, that is, on our part of the Apennine ridge which is once again called to pay”.
To follow up on what emerged from last Tuesday’s meeting, the organization of the States General of the two sides of the Apennines is already in the works, to give the various territories the opportunity to express their positions. General States in which, they announce, mayors, associations, economic categories and individual citizens will be invited to participate “who – they conclude – really care about the fate of this part of Umbria and Marche”.
