Stop the Airgun forever!

The black gold rush in the Italian seas continues unabated: new wells, in and out of restricted areas, and new research activities, extraction and exploration continue to jeopardize the Adriatic Sea, Ionian Sea, the Strait of Sicily and the Sea Sardinia. To confirm this, now there is the authorization by the Ministry of Environment in a week (from 11 to 18 October) considered successfully concluded with 5 EIA procedures regarding geophysical activities in petroleum purposes in Italian waters. The ok for the two instances of the search enabled in the Adriatic Sea off the coast of Puglia for about 1,500 sq km (the Global Petroleum Company); the two instances of the search enabled in the Ionian Sea for more 1.500kmq (belonging to Global Med) and an increasingly prospecting instance Ionian seas in 4,000 sq km (owner Schlumberger). These 5 opinions you add a further favorable outcome for the research allowed in the Sea of Sicily off the coast of Gela, 456 square kilometers of sea, owned by Edison, Eni. For a total of six cases authorized for environmental impact assessment.

Legambiente still continue the battle against the airgun, a technique used for research and oil exploration in the sea, which can cause damage to marine wildlife causing behavioral changes, sometimes fatal, in very different marine species, particularly cetaceans, up to kilometers of distance. Without calculating the economic damage to fishing and the local economy. A technique not only criticized by environmental groups, but also by the scientific community, many local communities and citizens who have expressly opposed the exploration activities by oil companies in the Italian seas, signing more than 70 thousand #StopOilAirgun the petition. Why Legambiente today called on the Government and Parliament to ensure that, after the many statements made in recent months to prohibit the use of this technique impactful for hydrocarbon research, arrive as soon as the approval of a law based on the proposals submitted .

The threat dell'airgun was unfortunately around the corner, after the Lazio Regional Administrative Court had rejected the appeal presented by Abruzzo and Marche common on applications of the Spectrum Geolimited to conduct geophysical surveys of about 30,000 square kilometers of the Adriatic sea, Rimini in Otranto. The green light came this week from the Ministry of the Environment, confirm the government's policy to Renzi in favor of fossil fuels and do not represent a good start to the commitments taken at Cop21 of Paris, on the day of the treat so the House to ratification of the agreement. Our country has today natural resources and opportunities to point to a future one hundred percent renewable thanks to really competitive alternatives. The Government has, therefore, the courage to walk that path through a far-sighted and innovative interventions that put the environment at the center, starting a new season focuses on renewable sources.