Sardinia:The collection of signatures for a referendum against energy speculation begins

In Sardinia, the collection of signatures has officially started to stop wind and photovoltaic park projects on the island in the absence of an adequate regional energy plan.It was launched by the "No Committee", which aims to obtain the vote soon 10 thousand signatures needed to bring citizens to a consultative referendum.The protagonists of the initiative are, specifically, the lawyer Michele Pala, responsible promoter, and the Arzachena doctor Pietro Satta, contact person for Gallura.«Do you want the Sardinian landscape, on land and sea, to be modified with the installation on the land and at sea of ​​industrial wind and/or photovoltaic systems for the production of electricity?» we read in question at the center of the signature collection, which the Committee aims to achieve submit to the vote of Sardinian citizens.

“Meetings to promote the referendum and initiatives to collect signatures are underway throughout the island,” wrote the promoters of the initiative in a statement published on the last day of June, explaining that "the forms to allow citizens to go to their municipality and put your signature on the referendum proposal”.In the note the Committee writes that it is necessary that the Sardinian people "are at least allowed to express themselves in a united and institutional manner on the near future of their land with a regional consultative referendum", adding that, for the success of the project, it is expected "the organization of meetings in the area and the establishment of local committees, the involvement of the mass media and the printed paper and any other initiative for information and dutiful involvement of the population”.And in fact, an intense campaign to collect signatures is underway in the main centers of the island through banquets and a long series of events aimed at informing public opinion on the wind energy situation in Sardinia and on the content of the question.There are many mayors who are concretely supporting the collection of signatures, also publicizing it on institutional websites.«We believe it is essential that all Sardinians express themselves in a united, democratic and institutional way with the regional consultative referendum – he declared Michele Pala – Considering that the procedure used by the State to impose such a burden on Sardinia it completely bypassed local administrations and communities».

The Sardinian population has been fighting for years to protect the landscape and natural heritage of the island against the "invasion" of wind turbines and photovoltaic panels.In fact, in Sardinia 809 requests have been submitted for the connection of renewable energy production plants to the national electricity grid which, in the event of a green light, would produce 57.67 Gigawatts of power.At the end of April it emerged that the largest photovoltaic panel factory in the People's Republic of China, Chint, had hoarded from the Spanish company Enersid the most important solar project ever conceived at a European level, stretching its tentacles over a thousand hectares of land in northern Sardinia.A few days later, Alessandra Todde – president of the Sardinia Region since the March electoral round – approved a bill that introduces a ban on the construction of new electricity production and storage plants from renewable sources which directly cause new land occupation for 18 months. However, the battle of the committees continued:on June 15th thousands of people are got out in the square in Saccargia, in the province of Sassari, for a large mobilization against the speculative assault on renewable sources.The following weekend they were indeed carried out new events in southern Sardinia, in particular near the Guspini, Sanluri and Quartu wind farms and in Oristano.Lastly, at the beginning of July in Selargius (Cagliari) a permanent garrison was created, called "the revolt of the olive trees”, after a citizen was the victim of forced expropriation.The latter was it refused to sell their lands to Terna, the company in charge of carrying out the work for the commissioning of the Tyrrhenian Link, the long cable that will connect Sardinia to the peninsula to transport the electricity produced by wind power to the island.

[by Stefano Baudino]