Italy’s Leading Party Downplays Climate Threat

Italy’s deputy prime minister gave a preview May 17 of what to expect on climate change if his far-right League party wins big in this month’s European elections as predicted.

Asked whether he considered climate change a threat, Matteo Salvini downplayed its effects with a joke about global warming, and said Europe’s clean energy transition should be slower.

“I want global warming,” he joked in reference to record low temperatures in Italy this month. “I don’t think there’s been anything like this in Italy where we’re forced to turn on the heat [in May].”

Voters will elect a new ...