While most of Italy is occupied with PM Silvio Berlusconi’s Rubygate scandal and the subsequent investigation into his involvement with underage prostitution and using his office to cover it up, most of the country is lying under a massive cap of smog, with the present government more interested in saving their highly paid seats and leaving anti-pollution measures to each city and in their own manner to solve.
Dozens of cities and areas have already passed the number of days that the EU directives allow dangerous substances into the air without health risks to the general population, and authorities are bracing for fines of hundreds of thousands of Euros, that could run into millions for breaking the directives.
Several cities and towns have already prohibited the use of cars and motorcycles from four up to ten hours on Sundays within their city limits, while the province of Milan, one of the most densely populated urban areas in the country, has decided to reduce the speed limit on all ring roads to 70 km/h, (however traffic congestion already keeps everything at a snails pace) during the week, and the city of Saronno’s speed limit will drop from 50 to only 30 km/h, and these are just a few of the ’solutions’ that Italy has come up with to fight air pollution.
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