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Glasnost, perestroika, and the environment
In a break fmm the past, Soviet government officials and the press are openly acknowledging that the U.S.S.R. is suffering from severe envinmmental pollution and degradation. A public awakening about environmental problems is taking place in the U.S.S.R. and Eastern Europe comparable to that triggered by Earth Day in the United States in 1970. Moreover, the official policy of g h m s t , increased openness and democratization, is fueliig and is being fueled by environmental issues. Will this awakening be sufficient to stem and reverse the tide of environmental damage, or will the reshucturing of the economy under perestroika accelerate the problem? Until recently, the Soviets have shied away from openly discussing their enviropmental problems and have depicted environmentalpollution and degradation as evils of capitalism. The Soviet government has argued that in a communist system of public ownership of natural resources and a centrally planned economy, there is little waste or pollution. The Soviets have pointed to the Creation of the first ~ t i park d under Lenin, the oldest and largest “volunteer” environmental group (Society for the Protection of Nature), the invention of the concept of the biosphere by Madimir Vernadsky in the early 193% environmental protection legislation begun in the 19608, and some of the tightest environmental quality standads in the world, as evidence that they have a strong envimnmental record. In reality, the Soviet Union is suffering from severe environmental pollu1212 Envlron. Sci.Technol.,Vol. 23, No. 10,tgsQ
tion and degradation. Major rivers, the Caspian and Black Seas, lakes such as Lake Baikal (the largest fresh water body in the world), and the Baltic coastbe are heavily contaminated with toxic materials, pathological organisms, and agricultural run-off. In many major cities visitors are warned not to drink tap water. Thick brown and black smog hangs over Moscow and moSt irdushialcities. Automobiles N n on leaded gasoline, and those built in 1980 or kiter have only modest emission controls similar to those required on US. vebicles in 1968. According to Fyodor Morgun, first cbairman of the new State Committee on Environmental Protection (Goskomprircda), 50 million people in 102 cities are exposed to pollutants that exceed national standards tenfold. Diversion of water from the SyrDarya and the Amu-Darya rivers for irrigation has caused the Aral Sea, once the world’s fourth largest inland sea, to fall 40 feet and to lose 40% of its surface area,two thirdsof its volume, and 20of 24 species of fish in 25 years. A high incidence of infectious hepatitis andincreased infant mortality has been reported near the Aral Sea, an area the Soviet officials call an “ecologid atastrophe.” The well-hwn nuclear accident at Chernobyl was the worst in world history. Many of the ruwms for the state of environmental problems in the U.S.S.R. are common to the Western world the rapid drive toward industrialization;a governmental system that is both the ecowmic producer and the regulator; weak, fragmented regulatory bodies, and a paucity of environmental data collected and available to both scientists and the public. The central planning of the economy through the fiveyear “Gosplan,” which establishes economic goals and budgets and overrides all other laws and local government priorities, often places environmental protection on a back burner. Pollution penalties are low in the U.S.S.R. and are paid by central industrial ministries, thus removing incen-
tives for improving environmenta management at the enterprise level. Until recently, citizen environmental groups were officialgovernment organizations. The absence of a pluralistic system in whicb citizens can organize independently and have access to real representation in government, judicial relief, and to the press, has left the protection of the public good and the environment to scientists and officials inside the government. Moreover, the vastness of the natural resou~~es available (the U.S.S.R. has the largest land area in the world) and confidence in science and technology have fostered beliefs that resources are unlimited and that human ingenuity and industriousness can reverse any damage done to the environment. Finally, the govenunent ownership of natural m u r c e s such as water and energy and M u provision “free” to the productive sector have resulted in waste and inefficiency. The Soviet Union uses 40% more energy than the United States and nearly three times as much as Japan and Sweden per unit of industrial production. Since Gorbachex has become the Scviet leader, attitudes about the environment and actions for its protection have changed dramatically. Because of g h m s t , environmental problems are being discussed more openly, independent public groups are emerging throughout the U.S.S.R. with access to the press, and citizen protests have played a major role in stopping conshuction of nuclear power plams and river diversion projects. The creation of Goskompriroda in 1988; Soviet agreement to international environmental accords on sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and CFCs; and the current scientificcooperation with the Wst in addressing the problems of global climate change are encouraging. Goskompriroda would like to establish an environmental impact analysis requirement for major development projects. A law passed in February mandates heavy sanctions against polluters, including holding them personally liable and
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Environ. ScLTechnol., Vol. 23, No. 10,lSESi 1213
