[Pharmwaste] Gorbachev cheers recycled sewage

[Tenace, Laurie]

Another article, same issue, same provocative word usage! 

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19902328-30417,00.html


Gorbachev cheers recycled sewage
Tony Koch 
July 25, 2006
THE former most powerful man in the world is so committed to the environment
he would drink recycled sewage.
Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev said yesterday the world's
atmosphere and waterways were so polluted that an environmental crisis clock
would be showing "five minutes to midnight". 

When told that the Queensland city of Toowoomba was holding a referendum next
week on whether to recycle sewage water for drinking, Mr Gorbachev drew on it
as an example of acting locally but thinking globally. 

While the vote was a matter for the people of Toowoomba, Mr Gorbachev - in
Brisbane for Earth Dialogues Brisbane 2006 - said he would have no problem
drinking recycled water. 

During a 20-minute briefing, Mr Gorbachev warned the Queensland cabinet it
might face strong opposition to plans to pipe water from north Queensland to
Brisbane. 

He said similar projects in his country had sparked opposition. 

"Before I became the leader of the Soviet Union, there was a program ... of
redirecting the course of some northern rivers in the Soviet Union to the
south where there was a lot of arable land and a lack of water," he said
through an interpreter. 

"But as soon as perestroika started and people had a chance to speak out,
many in those regions that were affected by that project protested against
it." 

Public anger was so strong the program was suspended and eventually
cancelled. 

"I am not telling you what you should decide," he said. 

"I'm just telling you that I've been through this." 

Mr Gorbachev also told cabinet the planet was already in the grip of an
environmental crisis that required immediate action by governments that had
the political will to act. 

"We are already in a global environmental crisis. The atmosphere has been
polluted and it has had an impact on the global climate," he said. 

"There is a shrinking of arable land and deforestation, pollution of the
oceans, and this is affecting our lives in a very bad way." 

Premier Peter Beattie said he had suggested to Mr Gorbachev that he establish
in Brisbane the Australian headquarters of the environmental group he chairs
and founded in 1993, Green Cross International.

Laurie J. Tenace
Environmental Specialist
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
2600 Blair Stone Road, MS 4555
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400
PH: (850) 245-8759
FAX: (850) 245-8811
Laurie.Tenace at dep.state.fl.us  
 
view our mercury web pages at: 
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/mercury/default.htm 

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