Politics

Is a new euro-rip coming?

The cold weather arrives, sales of heat pumps and electric induction cookers languish, and coincidentally the news of the ecological dangers of gas cookers comes out fresh. The agency Handle relaunches the study according to which Italy would be the European country most affected by pollution from gas stoves: 12,706 premature deaths per year according to the first scientific estimate by the Spanish Jaume I Universitywhich also counted almost 40,000 victims in the entire Union – where a third of homes cook with gas – and in the United Kingdom due to nitrogen dioxide (No2).

According to Spanish researchers, Italy doubles Poland, followed by Romania, France and the UK, where more families cook with traditional stoves. The head of “global public health policies” of the Europe Public Health Alliance, Sara Bertucciexplains: «For too long it has been easy to ignore the dangers of gas stoves which, like cigarettes, are a small fire that fills our home with pollution. The true impacts are likely greater than those predicted in this study.”

And who cares if the alternative is always electricity, too expensive without nuclear production plants, and even if without gas, in the event of a blackout you are left in the cold, in the dark but also with an empty stomach. He echoes her Francesco Romizicommunication manager of Isde Italia, underlining the need for immediate intervention by the institutions: «Governments should take the initiative to help us stop using gas, just as they helped us stop smoking. We must promote a paradigm shift, encouraging the adoption of cleaner solutions to protect people, especially the most vulnerable categories such as children and the elderly.”

Sso much so that there is yet another eco-imposition coming from the EU, those created out of nothing with the excuse of security which then become an economic boomerang for everyone. Certainly without gas the risks deriving from the presence of an open flame would be reduced, but do not think that induction or electrically powered incandescent cookers are risk-free, as demonstrated by the increase in the number of domestic fires calculated in some countries such as United Kingdom, Holland and France.