>you have a weird definition of democracy if you think that the councils should do whatever their citizens want as a majority.

How is that a "weird definition of democracy"? That's literally what democracy means!

Yes, if a majority of people want policies which result in them dying by the thousands from pollution, then in a democratic system, that's what you have to give them. If the politicians do something highly unpopular, even though it's for the good of the society, they get voted out (assuming there's competing politicians who promise to give the people what they want). That's how democracy works. This is why democratic systems don't work very well when the populace is uneducated and stupid.

democracy doesn't mean that the majority do what they want. they can't violate the rights of minorities. even from ancient Greece from the first democracies these issues were taken into account.