Russia and Its Neighbors - Comparing Environmental Policies in 16 Countries - page 223

publishing information about the environment, supposedly for security
reasons. In 1988 the USSR established the Committee for Environmental
Protection Agency (Goskompriroda), later to become the Ministry of the
Environment. The constitution adopted in 1993 after the breakup of the
Soviet Union provides “Everyone shall have the right to favorable envi-
ronment, reliable information about its state and for a restitution of dam-
age inflicted on his health and property by ecological transgressions,” and
“Everyone shall be obliged to preserve nature and the environment, care-
fully treat the natural wealth.” 3
During this period the Soviet Union claimed to have environmental
groups. For example, in 1990 Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) claimed to
have 150, but most were small with only a dozen members and focused on
a local issue. Many said their chief aims were to educate the public. Mass
public demonstrations are another good technique to influence opinion,
and perhaps government policy. To an extent these were default roles since
they could not undertake activities as in Western countries like lobby
legislators, influence bureaucrats, or obtain government reports. Some
groups were phony, like the Committee to Save the Volga, which was a
front for the ultra-nationalist Pamyat group. 4
None of the larger political parties are strong advocates of environmen-
tal protection, and the one green party has not had much success. The
Interregional Green Party began in 1991 as an expansion of a local party
in St. Petersburg. It nominated candidates for parliament but never could
reach the threshold of 7%.
Environmental issues played a role in the reforms under Gorbachev.
Chernobyl was the most dramatic, but with his policy of openness came a
stream of revelations about ecological disasters. Censorship was reduced,
so newspapers and magazines began to publish data showing the extreme
levels of pollution, which in turn fed public outrage. Across the Soviet
Union a number of plants were closed and construction projects stopped.
One example was the closing of the Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Plant, and
another was the abandonment of the proposed Volga-Chograi canal.
Although the Soviet Union did not have autonomous interest groups like
Western democracies, nevertheless, a few groups advocated their positions
and influenced policy. The opponents of environmental protection were
found in the state-owned industries. Most old-fashioned Communists sup-
ported the industries. The Marxist goal, after all, was materialism. The few
voices in favor of protection came from scientists, journalists, writers, and
a few dissidents. Goskompriroda did have an official duty of protection.