The Vatican
—-Rome
Everyone knew the Vatican wasn’t good for women’s liberation, but who knew the Vatican was no good for the environment as well? This week a Roman court convicted two Vatican Radio officials of “polluting the environment”with electromagnetic waves from a transmission tower.
The Week reported that “Cardinal Roberto Tucci, Vatican liaison for the station, and the Rev. Pasquale Borgomeo, the station’s director general, were each sentenced to 10 days in jail.” Lucky for them the Italians are softies when it comes to first offenses, meaning they will probably get off easy. This was brought to the authorities attention after citizens of a Roman suburb were complaining that the Vatican’s larger-than-life reception towers were contributing to high rates of leukemia among children.
The court has yet to rule on the amount of civil damages the Vatican must pay.
Interesting that in Europe, the question of whether EMF radiation actually causes leukemia doesn’t seem to come up as a major sticking point in whether litigation can be filed: the precautionary principle at work! U.S. courts have strucken down suits, even based on more merits, as “frivolous.”
01/01/06 » 9:47 pm »