QUESTION: Mr President, you know that in America, being `green', ecologically-minded, is the new religion, and the chief hierarch is former Vice-President Al Gore. I have two questions in this respect. How do you view the `green movement' as it is developing in Russia, and what is your policy in this area? And the second part of my question: in America and the West there is a need to use alternative energy sources so as to reduce dependence on fuels such as oil. VLADIMIR PUTIN: Regarding the ecology movement, I very much support it and share their ideas very much. Protecting nature, protecting the environment in which we live is one of the priorities for all of humankind. People who devote their time and their lives to this work unquestionably deserve our support. It is also clear that we cannot stop human development. There will always be a conflict between development and environmental protection. It is important that humanity realise the dramatic nature of the events taking place and channel development in such a way as to cause minimal damage to nature, or try to find ways of excluding all such damage. Modern technology can help us to achieve this. It is easier to resolve these problems today than it was even 15 years ago, because in a situation of confrontation between two rival blocs such as we had back then, confrontation that threatened total mutual destruction, people were not much concerned with what happened to the environment during this competition, which was a struggle of life or death. But today we have left this situation behind and there is no need to destroy the environment in the way we did previously. Today we therefore have a unique political opportunity to look after what God has given all of humankind. Our eco-system is very vulnerable. It is amazing that the Earth still survives today. Our planet evolved through a combination of billions of circumstances and continues to exist thanks to the fact these billions of circumstances somehow interact and work together. Our planet, which is in constant movement through what is essentially the hostile environment of outer space, is faced with the constant threat of destruction. It could be hit by large cosmic bodies. We have a very thin ozone layer and our atmosphere in general is really quite thin. There is a very fine line beyond which damage becomes irreversible, and we might not even notice that we have crossed this line. In this respect we must always remember this and always strive to minimise the possible negative consequences for the environment. But what I do not like is that people sometimes use environmental issues as an instrument in competition, particularly in economic competition, in order to stifle competition. This undermines trust in the environmental protection organisations and their work. This is the negative side of the question. But overall, we must strive to come up with rules of behaviour that would protect the environment for humankind in the long term.
VLADIMIR PUTIN: Regarding the ecology movement, I very much support it and share their ideas very much.
Protecting nature, protecting the environment in which we live is one of the priorities for all of humankind. People who devote their time and their lives to this work unquestionably deserve our support. It is also clear that we cannot stop human development. There will always be a conflict between development and environmental protection. It is important that humanity realise the dramatic nature of the events taking place and channel development in such a way as to cause minimal damage to nature, or try to find ways of excluding all such damage.
Modern technology can help us to achieve this. It is easier to resolve these problems today than it was even 15 years ago, because in a situation of confrontation between two rival blocs such as we had back then, confrontation that threatened total mutual destruction, people were not much concerned with what happened to the environment during this competition, which was a struggle of life or death.
But today we have left this situation behind and there is no need to destroy the environment in the way we did previously. Today we therefore have a unique political opportunity to look after what God has given all of humankind.
Our eco-system is very vulnerable. It is amazing that the Earth still survives today. Our planet evolved through a combination of billions of circumstances and continues to exist thanks to the fact these billions of circumstances somehow interact and work together. Our planet, which is in constant movement through what is essentially the hostile environment of outer space, is faced with the constant threat of destruction. It could be hit by large cosmic bodies. We have a very thin ozone layer and our atmosphere in general is really quite thin. There is a very fine line beyond which damage becomes irreversible, and we might not even notice that we have crossed this line.
In this respect we must always remember this and always strive to minimise the possible negative consequences for the environment. But what I do not like is that people sometimes use environmental issues as an instrument in competition, particularly in economic competition, in order to stifle competition. This undermines trust in the environmental protection organisations and their work.
This is the negative side of the question. But overall, we must strive to come up with rules of behaviour that would protect the environment for humankind in the long term.
... obviously they have some work to do here. "Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.
He's just plain wrong when he blames earlier environmental degradation on the Cold War. That was just an excuse for doing nothing about the horrifying air and water pollution in so many Russian industrial cities.
Here's the key thing that Putin says in the excerpt from the interview (and don't forget the quote from my diary):
So, we should be concerned about the environment, but it shouldn't limit the economy. Shades of George Bush! And any environmental organizations that make demands that limit the economy are untrustworthy. Hmm, maybe we'll have to ban them...
I've lived in the Soviet Union and been going there since the Brezhnev era. Putin sure looks like an old-style Soviet party boss to me. "My True Religion Is Kindness" -- The Dalai Lama
I've kinda already addressed everything in my comment below, but if you agree to not resort to rhetoric I will agree to not bring up our own appalling lack of leadership on the subject, and then ...
we can talk about what are some of the solutions to our problem here? Bitching about Russia won't fix anything. What good options are out there? How can we create incentives for Russia to address this problem? Do you have some ideas? I don't. Someone must... "Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.
Instead you have accused me of lecturing, of being defensive and of being a Cold-War-style war monger. You jump to the conclusion that because I criticize I have no interest in nor do anything to promote solutions, a complete non sequitur.
You have resorted to ad hominem attacks and failed completely to show me why I should not criticize Russia, or any other country, whose energy polices are wasteful, inefficient and, hence, an attack on the well being of the planet and all of us.
You talk about Russia as if it were one of those impoverished African nations who have been victimized by the industrial world's CO2 emissions. But it's not. It's a large, wealthy, powerful country with a major role to play in the world. Unfortunately, it has ceased to be a democracy and that fact, combined with it's leadership's cavalier attitude towards global warming (we'll see how they like having tropical diseases in Moscow when the mosquitoes start showing up) worries me. Next year, here in the US, we'll throw Bush and his cronies out. Putin and his cronies, however, are going to be in power in the Kremlin for a long time to come.
That's all. I'm done. Spacibo za razgovor. Spokonoi nochi. "My True Religion Is Kindness" -- The Dalai Lama
And re: Russia being a 3rd world country, I have no clue where you got that. I spend much of my time here reminding people that Russia is a "large, wealthy, powerful country with a major role to play in the world. "
Perhaps you have me confused with someone else?
My intention here was nothing less than to make a thoughtful, constructive contribution. You don't think I have, and in fact, you have been unnecessarily condescending toward me. I would have reciprocated the spasibos, because -and I REPEAT!- you've brought up a very important issues. But after this post, I am absolutely baffled.
So I will step out of this conversation so as not to annoy you with anymore questions or comments. You can go back to being the expert and the person who cares more about the environment than me, obviously, and I will go back to uhm, trying to throw out the Republicans, getting progressive energy policy enacted in America, and learning and writing about Russia with an open heart and mind. I know. I'm a real jerk, huh?
Ciao. "Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.
