Fw: Petition to Prime Minister Putin: Protect Lake Baikal and its Communities!

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Pacific Environment E-mail Newsletter :: December 2005Pacific

Environment

 

Support Lake Baikal and its Communities Today!

Sign a petition to keep a polluting mill closed and create alternative jobs

at Lake Baikal

 

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2 & c=sP8SAJWaOLY9bcXDVWR87

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The Russian environmental movement has achieved a momentous victory with an

announcement by Continental Management that it is closing the Baikalsk Pulp

and Paper Mill. The mill had been dumping over 100,000 cubic meters of

polluted wastewater into Lake Baikal each day. The closure is only temporary

and we need you take action today to protect this victory!

 

The mill is located directly on the shore of Lake Baikal, the world's oldest

and deepest lake. Baikal holds one fifth of the world's fresh water and as

home to over 1,600 endemic species of plants and animals, including a unique

species of freshwater seals. Since 1966 the pulp and paper mill has been a

flashpoint for the scientific and environmental community.

 

The fight, however, is not over yet. Continental Management continues to

blackmail the Russian government into providing the company with a pollution

waiver to continue operations at the mill as before the closure. In fact, on

Thursday, November 13 they were asking the government for another waiver,

giving the government until February to agree! We have until the end of

February to make sure the Russian government does not back down.

 

As of now, 1,400 workers have been laid off by the closure without the

provision of alternative employment. Baikal Environmental Wave, led by 2008

Goldman Environmental Prize winner Marina Rikhvanova, Greenpeace-Russia, and

other organizations have worked for years to stress the need for alternative

employment when shutdown occurs. We at Pacific Environment share our

partners' vision of the region as a model for sustainable development and

renewable energy. Please join us in demanding alternative employment for

Baikalsk residents. As we write this action alert, Pacific Environment is

hosting three people from the Baikal Region in the Bay Area to learn about

renewable energy opportunities. Stay tuned for more information about their

trip.

 

Closing the Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Mill is an enormous and important

victory for the Russian environmental movement! Yet the victory may only be

temporary. Join us in asking the Russian government to resist Continental

Management's request for a pollution waiver and to ensure that alternative

employment is provided in Baikalsk through sustainable, small-scale

businesses. Click here to sign a petition to Prime Minister Putin.

 

Thank you! Your support is critical in supporting Russian environmental

organizations like Baikal Environmental Wave to close down polluting

factories like the Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Mill and support sustainable

alternatives!

 

For Lake Baikal,

 

The Pacific Environment Russia Team

 

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2 & c=sP8SAJWaOLY9bcXDVWR87

je7wT1t8I7m