From Ravenna to the Val d'Agri, worries about the extraction of gas and oil. They are worth many millions of euros and thousands of jobs. Only Basilicata risked losing 150 million euros a year. From the Milleproroghe decree, the rule that blocked new research has finally been skipped. In fact, from next year, with the expiry of the concessions, the companies will go back to exploring the subsoil to ensure other supplies for Italy. Once again, two opposing visions on energy and the environment have opposed each other within the government majority. The Milleproroghe should have prohibited "on the whole national territory the granting of new prospecting or research permits or new concessions for the cultivation of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons". But the standard has not passed.
In Ravenna they breathed a refreshing sigh with respect to what is now considered essentially an ideological objective of a part of the government. The finger remains pointed at the Cinquestelle, who continue to hit the opposite button in search of new hydrocarbons. How the green transition can be managed by blocking gas and oil wells without increasing imports in the short term remains the most controversial point. Times are discordant, one pretends not to understand.
In Basilicata the disapproval of the article opposing the drilling should allow for new searches in Val d'Agri. In particular, the Pergola 1 well project is still standing at the center of a new request for an environmental impact assessment. Total has just inaugurated one. The stop to the drilling would in any case cause the Region to lack royalties essential to the Budget. On this point, the League with Senators Paolo Arrigoni and Pasquale Pepe is trying to defend local projects. Territories like that of Basilicata, with the choice to block extractions, without having built a credible alternative, would risk an immediate collapse.
In Ravenna institutions and trade unions are on the same positions. The Municipality sees the removal of the rule as its own success. This is good news which, however, does not erase the fear that there are new attempts to re-propose what is now an ideological objective, wrote the deputy mayor Eugenio Fusignani. Eni's historic presence in the area, since the time of Enrico Mattei, is threatened by positions that are both conciliatory with the green transition and penalizing in the medium term for workers and the regional economy. In both the North and the South, the objectives of decarbonisation for 2030-2050 are not disputed. What is not convincing in the government's action is the lack of a serious and concrete transition plan, without employment guarantees and economic refreshments. Conte takes little care of it, but Italia Viva has become the spokesperson for a realistic position within the government.
Those who produce oil in Italy are required to pay the state royalties, equal to 10% of the value of the gas and crude oil produced on land, recalls ENI. Thanks to memoranda of understanding with the Ministry of Economic Development, Basilicata, Emilia-Romagna and Piedmont have secured substantial revenues over the last 5 years. Money used for eco-sustainable investments and in public structures capable of attracting other private investments. A just battle that must be fought not to defend rearguard positions but to guarantee a future that respects the environment, business and work, relaunch from Ravenna. Hoping that there are no people in the government thinking of other blitzes.
