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Chat Session with prof. Ron Mitchell (March 11, 2004)Alexei Sitnikov : Good morning and good evening everybody! Alexei Sitnikov : Today's chat will be with professor Ronald Ronald Mitchell Alexei Sitnikov : I will be moderating the chat and regulating the flow of questions. Please do not ask your question until your university's name was called. This will help us to discuss as many questions as possible withing the time frame of the chat. thanks Alexei Sitnikov : The order in which we will be asking questions is the following: Petrozavodsk North Ossetian State Yakutsk State Southern Ural Ural State Moscow Higher School Saratov Yaroslavl Amur State Tyumen Alexei Sitnikov : The chat will begin in 20 minutes Alexei Sitnikov : Hi Lada! Filippov : Hello! Filippov : I will be right back in 15 minutes. Filippov : This was just a test. Kate_Kuhns : Hi Alexei, glad to see you got into the Finance Academy ! Please do me a favor and save a chat log. Thanks! Lada : Hello Everybody! Feponova : Hello, dear participants, PetrSU is here. Ronald Mitchell : Looking forward to the chat. Reshetova : Good Morning everybody! Filippov : Alexei Sitnikov : I will save the log. The building actually opens at 7 am Alexei Sitnikov : I was here 7:15 :) Alexei Sitnikov : We are joined by professor Ronald Mitchell and are ready to begin the chat Filippov : Nice to see you all! :) Alexei Sitnikov : Prof. Ronald Mitchell will be with us for the next hour and you will have a chance to address questions related to the course and its contents Yamineva : Hello, dear colleagues and students Alexei Sitnikov : The order of universities for questions is the following Petrozavodsk North Ossetian State Yakutsk State Southern Ural Ural State Moscow Higher School Saratov Yaroslavl Amur State Tyumen Feponova : Hello, dear Sir. PetrSU, question 1: Is it possible for the UN Security Council to authorize intervention into state's affairs, if environmental disaster constitutes threat to peace and has “spill-over” effect? Kate_Kuhns : Hi Ron, thanks for chatting tonight. Shishulin : Hello everybody, nice to see you!))) Ronald Mitchell : I do not know legally whether the UN SC has authority to intervene on environmental issues but... (I will use ... to signify that I have more to write) ... Alexei Sitnikov : ...QUESTION BEING ANSWERED. PLEASE HOLD YOUR REMARKS... Ronald Mitchell : the UN is likely to be one of several fora in which countries may raise concerns and seek to address such disasters and spillover effects. Countries may also decide to act in other institutions, such as NATO, the EU, or other such bodies, depending on where and how things happen. EoA (End of Answer) Alexei Sitnikov : NEXT QUESTION PLEASE : YAKUTSK and CHELYABINSK Yakovleva : Prof. Ronald Mitchell what do you think: is the tragedy of common resources vital to America ? Alexei Sitnikov : ...QUESTION BEING ANSWERED. PLEASE HOLD YOUR REMARKS... Ronald Mitchell : Could you please clarify the question? Many environmental resources are accurately characterized as similar to a Tragedy of the Commons. Are you concerned about particular resources? Kortshikova : Hello everybody, USU is here. Ozernaya : Do you consider that the problem of cosmic wastes is important? Alexei Sitnikov : Yakovleva: please clarify your question. Yakovleva : Is the problem of lackness of fish or forest vital to America now? Alexei Sitnikov : Ozernaya: please hold your question Ronald Mitchell : The US is quite concerned about some common resources, but has decided to have policies that, for some of these resources, act as if they need not be concerned about overuse of the commons. The current US policy with respect to climate change suggests that the US is not willing to take action unless other countries do as well, including developing countries. Ronald Mitchell : Next question? Alexei Sitnikov : NEXT QUESTION: URAL STATE UNIVERSITY Ozernaya : Do you consider that the problem of cosmic wastes is important? Kortshikova : USU, question #1: How do you think, what are the main solutions to the problem of humans indifference? Alexei Sitnikov : ... QUESTIONS IS BEING ANSWERED. PLEASE HOLD OUR REMARKS... Ronald Mitchell : If by cosmic wastes, you mean "nuclear wastes", this is a very important issue that requires both political and technical solutions. EoA. As for human indifference, an important element is trying to change people's values so they are concerned about the environment as much or more than economic concerns or security concerns. .... Ronald Mitchell : The difficulty is that changing people's values to be more "environmental" is very difficult. Think, for instance, about the last time any of the people involved in this chat seriously changed their values. For me, at least, it has been a very long time. We change values only slowly and incrementally (that is, little bits at a time). And human indifference is very hard to change. EoA Alexei Sitnikov : Prof Mitchel. please answer this question Yakovleva: Is the problem of scarcity of fish or forest vital to America now? Alexei Sitnikov : ... QUESTIONS IS BEING ANSWERED. PLEASE HOLD OUR REMARKS... Ronald Mitchell : The problem of scarcity of fish or forest is less vital to Americans than it once was, I think, because Americans are less dependent on those resources than they used to be. In part, this reflects globalization -- much of US fish and lumber now comes from other countries so there is less of a connection between what Lada, Kate, and I buy in markets in America and what environmental damage we see. This is called, sometimes, "environmental problem displacement." EoA Alexei Sitnikov : NEXT QUESTION: SARATOV STATE UNIVERSITY Levchuk : Hello all.Hello Prof Mitchel. Filippov : What do you think -- will active politics of many countries stop the global climal change? And what needs to be done first to prevent this? Alexei Sitnikov : NEXT QUESTION: SARATOV STATE UNIVERSITY Alexei Sitnikov : ... QUESTION IS BEING ANSWERED. PLEASE HOLD YOUR REMARKS... Ronald Mitchell : With respect to climate change, I think the changes that we need are very large. It will take major changes in current policies and those changes will need to be sustained for a long time ... Filippov : Thank you. Reshetova : Pr. Mitchel, please give an example of eco-terrorism in the USA (if possible in Russia ). Is it regulated by some organizations?(Greenpeace?) Ronald Mitchell : I am not currently optimistic that such changes will be made or sustained for a long time, however. But, that said, there is some hope if we begin to take action and then build on our successes. Alexei Sitnikov : NEXT QUESTION: YAROSLAVL STATE UNIVERSITY Alexei Sitnikov : ... QUESTION IS BEING ANSWERED. PLEASE HOLD YOUR REMARKS... Salva : ( Yaroslavl State University ) Prof. Ronald Mitchell, let me ask you a question. What do you think about nuclear power station - is it the most dangerous or less dangerous for our environmental system? Alexei Sitnikov : Reshetova: Pr. Mitchel, please give an example of eco-terrorism in the USA (if possible in Russia ). Is it regulated by some organizations?(Greenpeace?) ... QUESTION IS BEING ANSWERED. PLEASE HOLD YOUR REMARKS... Alexei Sitnikov : NOW ANSWERING: YAROSLAVL . Ronald Mitchell : Eco-terrorism in the US is most connected with two groups -- Earth Liberation Front and Earth First! In two US cases I know of, activists have burned up a large number of large cars (actually in Eugene Oregon) and in another case, where a ski resort development in Colorado was burned down. These are tactics that some people agree with and others do not. There is a term for this - "monkey wrenching" as defined by an American novelist named Edward Abbey. His book may be an interesting read for those who are interested. EoA Alexei Sitnikov : ... QUESTION IS BEING ANSWERED. PLEASE HOLD YOUR REMARKS... Reshetova : Pr.Mitchel,Thanks Ronald Mitchell : On nuclear power -- this is becoming a more interesting issue because the long term storage of nuclear waste as well as the safety issues of an accident like Chernobyl are difficult and worrisome and have not been resolved technologically yet. Alexei Sitnikov : NEXT QUESTION: AMUR STATE UNIVERSITY Alexei Sitnikov : NEXT QUESTION: TYUMEN STATE UNIVERSITY Alexei Sitnikov : NEXT QUESTION: PETROZAVODSK STATE UNIVERSITY Feponova : PetrSU, question 2: Is the right of people to know the state of environment an absolute one, or states may hide information Alexei Sitnikov : ... QUESTION IS BEING ANSWERED. PLEASE HOLD YOUR REMARKS... Kortshikova : USU, question #1: How do you think, what are the main solutions to the problem of humans indifference? Ronald Mitchell : I, personally, happen to believe that transparency and accountability are important to environmental protection. The more people know about the state of the environment and the actions they and their governments are taking to harm the environment, the more they may be willing to take actions to help the environment. Alexei Sitnikov : NEXT QUESTIONS: North Ossetian State U, Yakutsk State U, Southern Ural State U. Demeneva : SUSU: Professor, how do you think, how the state regime affects to environmental politics? Are there some differences in this sphere between democratic and totalitarian states? Alexei Sitnikov : ... QUESTION IS BEING ANSWERED. PLEASE HOLD YOUR REMARKS... Levchuk : SUSU.Pr.Mitchel,How you look at the extend environmental education in Russia Region and how do you think- should we reject the progress for save environment? Alexei Sitnikov : ... QUESTION IS BEING ANSWERED. PLEASE HOLD YOUR REMARKS... Alexei Sitnikov : ONE QUESTION AT A TIME PLEASE Ronald Mitchell : Different countries respond quite differently to environmental issues. Democratic states have some advantages in that, if the government is not concerned about environmental protection, the population may increase that level of concern. Alexei Sitnikov : Ron, please answer this next: SUSU.Prof. Ronald Mitchell, How you look at the extent of environmental education in the Russian Regions and how do you think- should we reject the progress for a sake of the safe environment? Alexei Sitnikov : ... QUESTION IS BEING ANSWERED. PLEASE HOLD YOUR REMARKS... Shishulin : (YSU)Pr. Ronald Mitchell,what do you think how long it takes all the mankind to understand that the "commons" leed the world to ruins? Alexei Sitnikov : QUESTION IS BEING ANSWERED. PLEASE HOLD YOUR REMARKS... Ronald Mitchell : As for environmental education in Russia , I think that is important. The question of whether to give up economic progress for environmental protection is a VERY difficult one. Developed countries, like the US , Europe, and Japan , have made significant gains to have a comfortable life and are now concerned about environmental protection. Other countries are "economies in transition" and have made some economic progress but still have much stronger aspirations. And developing countries have very little economic growth at all - particularly consider Africa and South America . In all these countries, it seems important to see if we can identify "pathways to sustainable development" that minimize, even if they cannot eliminate, the tradeoff between economic growth and environmental protection. In the end, we will probably try to limite economic growth a little bit to try to get a little more environmental protetion, but that may not be good enough. Alexei Sitnikov : NEXT QUESTION URAL STATE UNIVERSITY Alexei Sitnikov : EKETERINBURG: YOUR QUESTION PLEASE OR WE GO TO SARATOV Ronald Mitchell : To respond to the question on the commons from YSU, I think it is likely to be a long time before we understand it leads to ruin. Indeed, notice that simply "understanding the tragedy" does not mean you can overcome it. It is perhaps like a smoker -- they know that smoking cigarettes will kill them but they cannot stop themselves from smoking. Likewise, the structure of the tragedy of the commons means that countries may want OTHERS to stop overusing the commons but never want to contribute to that protection themselves. Taumova : USU:What internal factors do you consider to be the main causes of USA 's refusing to ratify the Kyoto treaty?What are perspectives of the Kyoto protocol? Alexei Sitnikov : NEXT QUESTION SARATOV STATE UNIVERSITY Reshetova : Pr.Mitchel,are there any examples of deep ecology which exist in reality? I think it's almost impossible to gain such a mind to act according to the principles of deep ecology. Am I right or not? Chuvilina : Good morning to all!Next question from Saratov :How do you think,is there perspective of developing "deep"ecology in the US ? Alexei Sitnikov : QUESTION IS BEING ANSWERED. PLEASE HOLD YOUR REMARKS... Filippov : What are the possible (and most efficient) solutions in your opinion to the reducing of ozone on Earth? Artificial producing of ozone? Some devices, which should be located in space and which should protect Earth from direct Sun rays? Alexei Sitnikov : USU:What internal factors do you consider to be the main causes of USA 's refusing to ratify the Kyoto treaty?What are perspectives of the Kyoto protocol? SARATOV : How do you think,is there perspective of developing "deep"ecology in the US ? Alexei Sitnikov : QUESTION IS BEING ANSWERED. PLEASE HOLD YOUR REMARKS... Alexei Sitnikov : ONE QUESTION AT A TIME PLEASE. OTHERWISE PROF. RONALD MITCHELL WILL BE CONFUSED AND WILL ANSWER FEWER QUESTIONS Ronald Mitchell : On Taumova from USU: The main causes of US refusal to ratify Kyoto lies in the tradeoff, we have discussed between economic progress and environmental protection. For many, it may be surprising that the US can still want more economic progress but people's concern for economic progress over environmental protection remains. Ronald Mitchell : On Saratov and deep ecology: No, there is not an increasing adoption of deep ecology views in the US . Indeed, even "shallow ecology" (environmental concern regarding things that affect humans) is still not particularly strong. Many people only have economic or security concerns, without any environmental concerns. A deep ecology view is only held by a relatively few people who are considered, in US politics, as very much not important politically. Salva : ( YAROSLAVL STATE UNIVERSITY ) In your opinion, what is the biggest possible number of Earth population that will not do environment substantial harm? Alexei Sitnikov : NEXT QUESTION: YAROSLAVL STATE UNIVERSITY Alexei Sitnikov : QUESTION IS BEING ANSWERED. PLEASE HOLD YOUR REMARKS... Ronald Mitchell : As for the carrying capacity of the Earth, I don't think there is a firm and clear number. It is somewhat a tradeoff between how many people, what quality of life for those people, how long humans can survive on the earth, and what quality of life other animals on the planet have. There are already over 6 billion people and we seem to be using up resources at a nonsustainable rate. Especially consider if all 6 billion people used as much resources as the average American uses, there would clearly not be enough resources for that. The reason the Earth sustains as many people as it does currently is because 1/2 or so of the world's people live in such poverty, hunger, malnutrition, poor health, no clean water, etc. If all those people had clean water, food, and clothing, let alone houses, cars, and televisions, the earth probably could not support the number of people already on the earth. Alexei Sitnikov : NEXT QUESTIONS: AMUR STATE UNIV AND TYUMEN STATE UNIV Alexei Sitnikov : NEXT QUESTION: PETROZAVODSK STATE UNIVERSITY Feponova : PetrSU, question 3: What are more effective policy for an NGO: to resolve some concrete environmental problems by their own efforts, or to attract people's and governmental attention to these problems? Alexei Sitnikov : QUESTION IS BEING ANSWERED. PLEASE HOLD YOUR REMARKS... Ronald Mitchell : I think both strategies for NGOs can be effective and are important. Some NGOs shouild be addressing environmental problems and taking action or helping local people take action. Other NGOs should, in my view, be trying to attract attention of the public and governments to problems. Both of these strategies and others are all important. One of the nice things, from my perspective, about the diversity of human interests, is that different people can each work on different things and, together, we do better than if all of us only did one thing. Alexei Sitnikov : NEXT QUESTION: YAKUTSK AND CHELYABINSK Demeneva : SUSU: Professor, whether as you think the eco-feminists organizations in USA are influential? Alexei Sitnikov : QUESTION IS BEING ANSWERED. PLEASE HOLD YOUR REMARKS Ronald Mitchell : I am not particularly informed about specific eco-feminist groups in the US . Ecofeminism is often more of a philosophy adopted by environmental groups who have philosophies that combine deep ecology, ecofeminism, and other philosophies. But, to the extent there are ecofeminist groups they are not a particularly important part of the political scene in America . Those that do exist may be influential in small ways, but they are not, to my knowledge, influential at a national level. Alexei Sitnikov : NEXT QUESTION: URAL STATE UNIVERSITY Maximova : How do you evaluate american policy in the enviromental sphere? Do think that all actions which were done by american government are enough to protect the enviroment? Alexei Sitnikov : QUESTION IS BEING ANSWERED. PLEASE HOLD YOUR REMARKS Ronald Mitchell : The US (like all other countries and people in the world!) could do much, much more. And the US has a special obligation to do more because it has so much more resources and power to take action, and so much more opportunity to act as a leader. What the US government and what US citizens are doing right now is not even close to being enough to protect the environment. There is much more that needs to be done. In some areas (e.g., protecting endangered species), the US is doing very good work. In others, such as international cooperation on climate change, the US has not been taking as strong action as it could. Alexei Sitnikov : NEXT QUESTION: SARATOV STATE UNIVERSITY Chuvilina : Prof.Mitchel, in your opinion which of the ecological problems are the most important now for the US ,for the whole world? Filippov : (SSU) What are the possible (and most efficient) solutions in your opinion to the reducing of ozone on Earth? Artificial producing of ozone? Some devices, which should be located in space and which should protect Earth from direct Sun rays? Reshetova : SSU: Are there any effictive ways to raise or to force the incentives of powerful and well-off people to invest environmental NGO's? Alexei Sitnikov : QUESTION IS BEING ANSWERED. PLEASE HOLD YOUR REMARKS Kortshikova : USU: Professor Ronald Mitchell, thank you very much for answering, it was very interesting to learn your opinion about some ecological questions. Ronald Mitchell : On Chuvilina: there are many, many environmental problems that are important. Climate change seems very important at the moment, but for many people in the world, simply ensuring they have clean water, are not subject to diseases, and have enough food are far more important than climate change. Ronald Mitchell : On Filippov: I do not personally have much faith in technological solutions. I believe that the Montreal Protocol has reduced CFC emissions effectively and that, over time, this will "fix" the ozone hole. Filippov : (SSU) What are the possible (and most efficient) solutions in your opinion to the reducing of ozone on Earth? Artificial producing of ozone? Some devices, which should be located in space and which should protect Earth from direct Sun rays? Feponova : Dear professor Ronald Mitchell, we appreciate very much your efforts to answer our questions. Best regards, Anna Ukhanova, Petrozavodsk State University . Filippov : (SSU) What are the possible (and most efficient) solutions in your opinion to the reducing of ozone on Earth? Artificial producing of ozone? Some devices, which should be located in space and which should protect Earth from direct Sun rays? Filippov : Alexei Sitnikov : Reshetova: SSU: Are there any effictive ways to raise or to force the incentives of powerful and well-off people to invest environmental NGO's? Filippov : Alexei Sitnikov : QUESTION IS BEING ANSWERED. PLEASE HOLD YOUR REMARKS Filippov : Sorry -- experiencing problems with the chat :( Alexei Sitnikov : I THINK WE HAVE TIME TO TWO MORE QUESTIONS BEFORE CONCLUDE TODAY'S CHAT. PLEASE PREPARE YAROSALVL, PETROZAVODSK , CHALYABINSK Ronald Mitchell : On Reshetova: I do not know effective ways to force powerful people to invest in environmental NGOs. Perhaps a more interesting approach is to think about what can be done to get multinational corporations and large domestic corporations to invest in making sure their companies produce products in a "green" way. If you can make a 1% change in a $10 billion company, that is worth $100 million dollars of environmental progress, which is huge. So, maybe people can work in the companies they work for to make environmental change too. Reshetova : thanks Alexei Sitnikov : NEXT QUESTION: YAROSAVL, PETROPZAVODSK, CHELYABINKS, EKATERINBURG Ozernaya : Do you agree that recycling is a real decision of wastes problem? Feponova : Thank you. PetrSU, question 4: Are there any international or regional mechanisms of protection of ecological rights of people? Alexei Sitnikov : QUESTION IS BEING ANSWERED. PLEASE HOLD YOUR REMARKS Ronald Mitchell : On Ozernaya: Recycling is one part of the puzzle that needs to be solved. It may be more valuable, however, to avoid using excessive resources in the first place. And, in Europe , there is an increasing movement toward requiring companies that manufacture products to take back those products at the end of their "life" and that can make companies more thoughtful about how they produce products. So, as important as recycling is not using as much resources in the first place. Alexei Sitnikov : CHELYABINKS, EKATERINBURG NOW PLEASE Akhmadeeva : USU In your opinion, is effective such tools of public participation in the ecological decisionmaking, such as the impact assessment on an environment (on example assessment process by NEPA in USA )? Will be effective distribution of this experience to Russia ? Alexei Sitnikov : QUESTION IS BEING ANSWERED. PLEASE HOLD YOUR REMARKS Alexei Sitnikov : NEXT QUESTION FROM SARATOV AND YAROSLAVL WILL CONCLUDE OUR CHAT TODAY Filippov : What are the possible (and most efficient) solutions in your opinion to the reducing of ozone on Earth? Artificial producing of ozone? Some devices, which should be located in space and which should protect Earth from direct Sun rays? Ronald Mitchell : Public participation does seem to be effective in the US and has contributed to environmental protection. I do not know enough about Russia and Russian democracy and political process to know whether it would be more (or less) effective there. But, it seems that it would be worth it to try out such policies and see if they can be adapted to the Russian experience so that it can help Russia better protect its environment. All countries are struggling to protect their environment, and any policies that seem to work should be tried to see if they work in new countries. Reshetova : Do people actually use gas-run cars in the USA ? what is the persantage of those who do? do you personally use? Ronald Mitchell : On Filippov: I do not think there is a need for artificially producing ozone or placing devices in space. I think that the ozone hole will be repaired by the reduction in CFC emissions. Alexei Sitnikov : RON: BY GAS SHE MEANT NATURAL GAS, NOT GASOLINE Filippov : Thank you, professor! Ronald Mitchell : Reshetova: almost all people use gasoline cars in the US . A very, very few use natural gas, and even fewer use electricity. But 99.9% use gasoline (non-diesel) to run their cars. Unfortunately, I must confess, I am one of that 99.9%. Shishulin : (YSU) Pf. Ronald Mitchell, what do you think about using of alternative energy? Alexei Sitnikov : QUESTION IS BEING ANSWERED. PLEASE HOLD YOUR REMARKS Alexei Sitnikov : THIS WILL HAVE TO BE OUR LAST QUESTION Reshetova : Pr.Ronald Mitchell,thank you for answering our questions! Ronald Mitchell : Shishulin: alternative energy must be developed, but unfortunately there are difficulties with all of them, so it is always a tradeoff. Solar panels involve using silicon and other chemicals in production that may be a problem. And solar is hard to use for transportation. Hydro power means dams that kill fish. Windmills kill birds and may have other effects. Nuclear has long term storage and accident problems. There is much room for development of new technologies that reduce these tradeoffs. So, besides people doing international environmental politics, we also need chemists, and physicists, and engineers, and others also working together to contribute to solving the environmental problems we face. Yakovleva : SUSU. Prof. Ronald Mitchell, thank you for an interesting dialogue. Best wishes. Ozernaya : SUSU: Thank you for the interesting discussion. Good night! Alexei Sitnikov : I WOULD LIKE TO THANK PROFESSOR RONALD MITCHELL FOR CHATTING WITH US TODAY! I KNOW THAT NOT ALL OF YOUR QUESTIONS WERE ANSWERED HERE BUT THIS IS THE BEST WE CAN DO UNDER THE TIME CONSTRAINT AND THE TIME DIFFERENCE. I ENCOURAGE YOU TO ADDRESS COURSE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO YOUR TEACHING ASSISTANTS WHO WOULD BE GLAD TO DISCUSS THEM WITH YOU. THANK YOU ALL FOR PARTICIPATING IN THE CHAT. THE CHAT LOG WILL BE AVAILABLE THROUGH YOUR INSTRUCTORS IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN REVIEWING IT FURTHER. GOOD BYE. ALEXEI Chuvilina : (SSU)Thank you very much for your answers!It was very interesting to know your opinion! Yamineva : Professor, thank you for interesting chat. Bye all. Feponova : Dear professor Ronald Mitchell, once again, we appreciate very much your efforts to answer our questions. Best regards, Anna Ukhanova, Petrozavodsk State University . Feponova : Dear Alexei, thank you very much for assistance. Best regards, Anna Ukhanova, Petrozavodsk State University . Demeneva : SUSU: Thank you for the interesting chat! Good luck all! Filippov : My best regards to all of you! Thank you, professor Ronald Mitchell! Akhmadeeva : thanks for all! Good day! Good night! |
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