The biosphere of our planet has not improved for the past year.
We have been facing dangerous ongoing climate change, deterioration
of the condition of the world ocean, shrinking biodiversity,
disappearance of the rain forests, aging nuclear power stations
and proliferation of nuclear weapons threaten us with another
Chernobyl, chemical contamination and the spread of GMOs.
Influential international bodies – the G-8 and the G-20, the
World Bank, the European and the Asian Banks of Reconstruction
and Development - declaring the importance of preserving the
planet's ecosystems in words, virtually support quick-profit
technologies detrimental on nature.
Lack of stringent environmental control over implementation
of commercial projects at the national and the international
level leads to a terrible disasters like that we observe in
the Gulf of Mexico.
The Russian government has been passive in the fight against
dangerous anthropogenic changes on the planet and rare declarations
by our authorities on the need to preserve the environment
remain words only, because such activity requires additional
investments and restructuring of the old production facilities
which result in a fall of the operating revenue. Russia has
virtually abolished ensuring the constitutional rights of
its citizens to a favorable environment, reliable information
on environmental situation, compensation of environmental
damage, rational use and preservation of natural resources,
economical and careful attitude to natural resources as the
basis for life and work of the citizens.
Environmentally unfriendly results of Putin-Medvedev’s governing
include the following:
- purposeful weakening of environmental and natural resource
laws;
- increase in environmentally sensitive morbidity and mortality;
- resumed functioning of the Baikal Pulp in the mode of causing
irreparable damage to the Lake Baikal;
- opening of borders to the imports of foreign radioactive
waste and creation ecologically unfriendly production facilities
in Russia moved from other countries;
- facilitation in elimination of urban and suburban recreation
areas and territories;
- abolishing of development in a necessary scope of safe
energy sources;
- negligence to predatory use of natural resources, poaching
(by senior officials inclusive);
- support of new "great construction projects” (Evenkiyskaya
hydro-electric power station, the Central Circular Road, etc.),
and projects like that targeted at raising of the water level
of the Cheboksary reservoir, which will dangerously change
the living conditions at vast areas for the sake of enriching
a few;
- damaging nature in the Western Caucasus in connection with
implementation of the ambitious Sochi Olympic Games project.
The Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO calls to using
such approaches to the development of the country when new
production facilities and use of natural resources would improve
rather then worsen the socio-ecological situation, when "petrodollars"
would be spent on innovative development, when Russia would
become a democratic law-governed state cooperating with other
countries in order to prevent national and global ecological
distaters.
Sergei Mitrokhin
Chair of the YABLOKO party
See also:
YABLOKO
for Environmental Safety
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