Fifty years ago, women and men of science gave birth to what has been called, in Italy and in the world, the "ecological spring". The Coronavirus emergency can finally be an opportunity to rethink our industrial, environmental and social model, using the prophetic indications of that movement. Forward-thinking scientists clearly explained to humanity that the thermo-industrial economic model based on fossils, on unlimited growth, on the continuous degradation of natural resources, as well as on the exploitation of the poorest countries, had no future. They pointed out, with equal clarity, the new paths that should have been taken to ensure decent living conditions for the generations to come. A summary of what has happened in this half century: the political and industrial system has shown in fact to have experienced the environmental issue as a constraint to be removed. Instead, on a closer analysis, it is clear that precisely in the technologically advanced sectors (energy, chemistry and information technology) today we would be in an advantageous position if we had previously faced the environmental crisis.