Italian Environment Minister Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio on Wednesday urged politicians of all stripes to put aside their differences over nuclear power and fight climate change together.
Speaking the day after a heated debate in parliament on how to tackle global warming and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the minister called for an end to "squabbles and pointless babble" on environmental issues.
"A joint effort is needed, one that moves beyond the petty jealousies that prevent Italy from making real progress," said Scanio, a member of the centre-left governing coalition.
"The fight against climate change is a priority. We understand that this issue disturbs a great many interests but our main focus must be the common good of the people and the planet".
The minister's comments come a day after the House greenlighted a resolution backing a climate change report drafted by its environment committee.
The centre-right opposition coalition abstained during the vote in protest at the document's rejection of any move towards reintroducing nuclear power.
Italy abandoned nuclear energy after a 1987 referendum, the result of which was strongly influenced by the Chernobyl disaster of the previous year.
But in recent years a growing number of top industry figures have suggested this was a mistake, a position that is increasingly backed by the centre right.
After the parliamentary vote on Tuesday, opposition MPs reiterated their concern at the continued rejection of nuclear power.
Fabio Rampelli, a deputy with the rightist National Alliance party, called for a serious study on safe nuclear options, including the disposal of radioactive waste, and implied Italy was falling behind other countries "that have been producing nuclear power for 50 years".
Luigi D'Agro of the Catholic UDC party suggested the Green party's support for solar and hydrogen power as alternatives to fossil fuels was unrealistic.
"Creating a single solar panel consumes more energy than is actually produced during the panel's lifetime, while in order to produce hydrogen, you need to use gas or petrol, which release carbon into the atmosphere," he said.
But members of the governing coalition hailed the result of the vote, describing it as an effective block on nuclear power and representative of the views of the general public.
"Nuclear power uses obsolete, extremely costly and dangerous technology," said Grazia Francescato, head of the Green group within the House environment committee.
"The future lies in energy efficiency, renewable sources and in launching a genuine green industrial revolution".
In addition to its rejection of nuclear energy, the document called for a number of steps to help Italy meet its commitments under the Kyoto protocol.
It recommended incentives to use public transport and to replace energy-heavy domestic appliances with more efficient products, an end to the manufacture of incandescent light bulbs, and financial assistance to promote energy-efficient construction.
It also called for existing renewable energy sources to be expanded by 300-400% and for 500 million euros to be invested in local public transport systems in urban areas.
House environment committee chair Ermete Realacci said the annual budget, to be debated over coming weeks, would test the government's commitment to implementing the recommendations.
