What do I think of Rutelli’s theses on Pnrr and renewables. Speak Sapelli
The historian and economist, Giulio Sapelli, comments in a conversation with Start Magazine on the theses of Francesco Rutelli who advised Draghi on the energy transition to …
“Draghi has gained confidence in the promise of a 'green revolution', but the current agenda is inadequate. If we are caught unprepared, the country will also lose competitiveness: we will buy batteries from China and electrolysers from Germany ”. Former Environment Minister Francesco Rutelli, now president of the Center for a sustainable future foundation and president of Anica, an association of the film, audiovisual and multimedia industries, does not mince words, in an interview with Repubblica asks that the climate dossier pass to Dragons.
For Giulio Sapelli, an economist, however, the PNRR rather than being misleading on the climate it is on industrial policy. “The 2030 climate goals shouldn't exist,” says Sapelli, heard by Start Magazine .
Let's go step by step.
RUTELLI: WE ARE OFF-ROAD ON CLIMATE
Let's start with Francesco Rutelli's theses.
"On the climate we are completely out of the way," says the former Ssndaco of Rome, who in recent years left the political scene in an interview with Repubblica . “The Italian political agenda is totally inadequate to face the emergency. But there is a solution and it is called work ”.
DISPROPORTION BETWEEN COMMITMENTS AND FACTS
“There is a colossal disproportion between what we are committed to doing and what we are really achieving. The international community, therefore also Europe and Italy, is in agreement in halving CO2 emissions by 2030 and eliminating them by 2050 ”, added Rutelli.
THE DOSSIER GOES TO DRAGHI, SAYS RUTELLI
For the president of Anica, the Prime Minister should take the dossier directly: “Draghi has gained confidence in the promise of a“ green revolution ”, but the current agenda is totally inadequate. It is not enough to change the name of a ministry and entrust it to a competent person like Cingolani, whom I trust and respect, but who is the eighth minister of the government in hierarchical terms. The prime minister himself must take charge of it ”, adds Rutelli.
COUNTRY COMPETITIVENESS AT RISK
For the former mayor of Rome, the entrepreneurial future of the country is at stake. It would be necessary, explains Rutelli, to "totally rewrite the political agenda of the country", putting "the fight against the climate emergency at the center. If we are caught unprepared, the country will also lose competitiveness: we will buy batteries from China and electrolysers (the devices that extract hydrogen from water, ed.) From Germany ”.
OBJECTIVE: TO CREATE WORK
But how to convince the population that the road to the green is the right one?
“The only key to convincing people to embrace the ecological transition – explains Rutelli – is work. All public actors must be involved so that green investments are aimed at creating new jobs. Those who lose their jobs due to the transition from fossils to renewables will have to be able to count on a permanent training structure that prepares them for new professions. And young people must be offered a training and employment chain compatible with the green transition. It is the only convincing argument in the short term to have the consent of the people ”.
SAPELLI: THE TRANSITION IS SOCIAL AND LONG-TERM
But are we really, as the former Minister of the Environment says, in the fight against climate change? “Francesco Rutelli's statement is apolitical. The problem raised is correct, but we cannot find only superficial solutions. We need to understand what and how the fight against climate change is interpreted ”, Giulio Sapelli, historian and economist, told Start Magazine .
“To really offset the devastation of climate, nature and the Earth over the past few years, a long-term transition is needed. Let's look at the past and the time it took to pass from feudalism to capitalism ”.
WITH THE CAPITALIST MODEL, THE ENERGY TRANSITION IS FAR
And capitalism, for Sapelli, is an impediment to the fight against climate change. “It will be difficult to solve the climate problem within our capitalist system, we need a social and economic transition first. The need to present the income statements every three months will divert company policies to the creation of added value ".
GOALS 2030? WRONG MODEL
Even the way in which objectives are imposed, for Sapelli, is fallible. “The problem is not being in line or not with the 2030 objectives, as Rutelli argues, the problem is the imposition of those objectives. This policy responds to a Soviet model, which has already failed ”, explains the economist:“ With the PNRR we have resurrected the USSR model ”.
SAPELLI ON RUTELLI
So what is the path that the Draghi government should pursue? “The one that we should all follow: aiming at energy saving, in the sense of not turning on unnecessary lights, for example, and at new models of extraction of natural resources. Let me explain: water should be administered by the community, as a common good to be aware of. Another example? Fishing: the fishing stop should not be imposed from above, but decided by a fishermen's cooperative. It is society that must also take charge of the economy ”.
PNRR: DOES NOT REFLECT INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE
And then the NRR, as set up, could have counterproductive effects for the Italian entrepreneurial structure? “Yes”, according to Sapelli, but not for the same reasons as Rutelli. According to the economist, in fact, “the Plan is not modulated on the Italian industrial structure, which is mainly composed of small and medium-sized enterprises. We are a power thanks to these: if we look at the steel industry, in addition to Ilva, we are leaders thanks to the medium and small companies in the sector ”.
A PNRR TOO BUROCRATIC
But Sapelli what does this Pnrr reproach? “It is too bureaucratic and centralized. The National Recovery and Resilience Plan is a list of expenses, a theory. It appears to be the latest Soviet attempt. The neoliberals want to be liberal with the state. The PNRR lacks an industrial vision for our country, it is the result of the ideas of the 10,000 Brussels bureaucrats ”.
FOSSIL WILL BE BACK IN FASHION
But bureaucrats and momentary ideologies aside, for Sapelli fossils will never go out of fashion. “The fossil will always be needed. We will soon realize that with renewables we will produce more carbon dioxide than we imagine. Hydrogen, on the other hand, requires the use of carcinogenic materials. We can't dispose of lithium. As soon as possible we will return to fossils and gas, above all ”, according to the historian and economist.
“Rutelli is moved by positive thoughts, but you need to know the subject well. I also read the book "All roads lead to Rome", it is very nice, but I advise Rutelli to read what happened in Texas, where they were without light due to the collapse of the electricity system, which is based on renewable sources alone. There are already elements that enhance my thesis ".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/che-cosa-penso-delle-tesi-di-rutelli-su-pnrr-e-rinnovabili-parla-sapelli/ on Fri, 04 Jun 2021 12:28:21 +0000.