Green in the flag but not in the elections

There are reasons to be optimistic about next month's Italian elections.  Mario Monti’s decision to get into the campaign means the country could have a real center-right party.  And it could be a party that marginalizes Berlusconi in the contest against the Partito Democratico (PD) on the left.  Also, as someone generally of the left, the strength of the PD in recent polls gives reason to hope.

But there’s also discouraging news.  Aldo Cazzullo wrote in yesterdays’ Corriere della Sera of the “disappearance of the ecologists.”  He points out that none of the major parties -- PD, PDL/Lega, or Monti’s coalition -- have anything to say about significant environmental issues, issues like land use, urban pollution, and alternative energy strategies.  At a more individual level, many, it seems, are scratching their heads, to say the least, over PD leader Pierluigi Bersani’s decision to exclude two sitting senators, known environmentalists, from the party’s list of candidates.