Who needs the greens?
in a move that has triggered severe criticism countrywide, President Vladimir Putin abolished Russia's State Committee on the Environment, the nation's sole agency for environmental protection. He also did away with the State Committee on Forestry and transferred the functions of both these panels to the ministry of natural resources which also licenses development of Russia's oil, natural gas and other deposits. Environmentalists say that this amounts to putting an alcoholic in charge of the vodka store.
That Putin had little regard for environmental concerns is no secret among environmentalists in the country. Last year, as head of the secret service, Putin had expressed the view that ecological groups provided a "convenient cover' for foreign spies.
In recent years, several environmental activists and researchers have also been subject to investigations by security service personnel. Noted environmental campaigner Alexander Nikitin was only recently given permission to leave the country after his acquittal on charges of treason.
All this has further enhanced the view that the government would rather cater to the selfish interests of a certain section of people
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