Italy’s ‘Conte-2’ Government Implements Ecofascist Agenda
Nov. 5, 2019 (EIRNS)—The bad news: the pro-EU Italian government has implemented a first set of ecofascist measures that will have devastating consequences on the national economy. The good news: the social consequences of such policies will backfire and accelerate ending the lifespan of the government.
1. The ILVA steel plant in Taranto will be shut down as a result of both government and court actions, threatening serious consequences for the Italian economy. Taranto is the largest steel plant in Europe and alone is worth more than 1.4% of the GDP.
On Nov. 3, Arcelor-Mittal announced the cancellation of the purchase contract for ILVA, signed months ago, inducing as motivation the government bill lifting legal protection for the company over violation of environmental guidelines due to the former management. Additionally, a court injunction sets Dec. 31 as the date when the company has to accomplish certain additional measures, threatening the closure of a blast furnace. In a press release, Arcelor-Mittal lists the two circumstances as motivation for its cancellation decision.
The lifting of legal protection for Arcelor-Mittal was introduced by a Five Star (M5S) amendment to the government bill. The M5S has always campaigned for shutting down the Taranto plant altogether, blathering about a “reconversion” into something else.
ILVA has four blast furnaces, one of which has been already shut down. With the shutdown of a second furnace, it will be impossible for Arcelor-Mittal to implement its industrial plan. The plant already operates at loss. Over 10,000 jobs are at risk.
2. The government has introduced a tax on plastic bottles and on sweet snacks, dubbed as climate and health-protection taxes.
3. Education Minister Lorenzo Fioramonti, an economist who is the author of these two measures, has announced that next year, Italy will be first nation to make it compulsory for schoolchildren to study climate change and sustainable development. Many traditional subjects, such as mathematics, geography and physics, will also be studied but from the standpoint of sustainable development, Fioramonti said in an interview with Reuters. “I want to make the Italian education system the first education system that puts the environment and society at the core of everything we learn in school,” Fioramonti said.
Last September, Fioramonti created a controversy by encouraging students to skip lessons in order to participate in the “FridaysForFuture” demonstrations.
