Altai pipeline stirs ecology fears

by Olga Khrustaleva at 01/03/2012

The Moscow News

Arow is raging between environmental activists and Gazprom, which is plowing ahead with preliminary work on a $14 billion gas pipeline through the Ukok Plateau, a remote location in the Altai republic near the Chinese border.

Local and national activists argue that the plateau, part of a UNESCO World Heritage site due to its natural diversity and cultural significance, is going to be the victim of a battle to keep gas prices low and secure a purchase deal from China.

Gazprom, meanwhile, says that it has made no legally binding contract with China relating to the pipeline.

Alternatives dismissed

China and Russia signed a general agreement on gas sales in 2010, but failed to agree on a price for Gazprom’s gas. Despite this, Gazprom started design and exploration work on the pipeline last year, causing concern among ecologists and activists and spurring an investigation by prosecutors. The available area for construction of the pipeline is relatively small – the Chinese border with Russia in the Altai republic is only 40 kilometers long – so some effect on the local ecosystem is inevitable, activists say.

“We don’t criticize, but support the export of Russian gas to China,” said Aleksei Knizhnikov, the head of WWF Russia’s oil and gas program. “What we do criticize is this route. We have shown that there are alternative routes that are better not only from an ecological, but also a profit perspective. There is a very good route via Mongolia or Kazakhstan.” Conflicts in recent years with Ukraine and Belarus over gas shipments, and their effects on business with Europe, have made Gazprom uneasy about dealing with transit countries, Vyacheslav Bunkov, an oil and gas analyst with Aton, told The Moscow News.

“The demand for gas in Europe is going down,” he said. “Gazprom is being driven out from Europe by other producers and China is becoming more important.”

China’s higher profile makes potential transit disputes even more problematic.

“[Transit] doesn’t only create certain risks for the project, but it also increases the price as transit countries charge extra for transit through their territory,” Bunkov said. “The main problem Gazprom is having with China now is that they can’t agree on price, so third countries would only complicate the situation.”

Negotiations with China are ongoing, and will resume this spring, Gazprom said.

The nearest direct route is 2,000 kilometers away, on the other side of Mongolia in the Amur region, and would make for a longer pipeline and higher construction costs.

No action taken

An investigation has found that the design and exploration work undertaken by Gazprom is illegal, but prosecutors decided there was no need to intervene since the plateau had not been damaged, and have allowed the work to continue in 2012. Alexander Berdnikov, head of the Altai republic, has said that the pipeline does not present any danger because it will go through “zone C” of Ukok, where business activities are allowed.

Andrei Ivanov, the head of the nature protection fund Altai 21 Vek, disagrees, warning about the unpredictable consequences of digging in the deep-frozen soil of the Altai mountains.

“There are data that breaking up frozen earth leads to hydrological changes in the jetstream and to climate change,” Ivanov said, RIA Novosti reported. “And since the world is concerned about stabilizing the climate, such unique and pristine territories should be protected from any industrial influence.”

‘Moral violence’

The plateau’s significance is not just environmental. A draw for eco-tourists and an inexhaustible treasury for archeologists, the Altai Mountains in general and Ukok in particular are sacred places for indigenous people.

“After the construction, its sacredness will be out of the question,” said Urmat Knyazev, a deputy in the Altai republic’s legislative assembly. “It is moral violence against people.”

The campaign against the pipeline had received support from U.S. ecologists, but this was curtailed after local activists were controversially accused of having links to the CIA and plotting to undermine the Russian economy.

Akai Kanyev, the leader of Belaya Vera, an Altai cultural revival movement, said that activists would fight to the bitter end to preserve Ukok, but that he hoped the issue could be resolved by dialogue.

The inclusion of the plateau in UNESCO’s list of endangered world heritage sites could tip the balance toward the ecologists, but it remains unclear whether even that would make Gazprom change the route.

But Bunkov, of Aton, cited the influence environmental activists had in forcing a change in the route of the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline in 2006.

“The pipe was made longer as it went around [Lake] Baikal,” he said. “It is possible here, but if there is any political directive, it will be difficult to find a compromise.

“When it comes to the construction itself, the protests will register,” Bunkov said. “I don’t leave out the opportunity of different routes.”

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Don’t be SAD

by Natalia Antonova at 28/09/2012

The Moscow News

For Yulia Ivanova, the worst thing about seasonal depression was other people’s insistence that it didn’t exist.

“They called me ‘lazy,’ they called me a ‘liar,’ and they said that people like me are a drain on society,” she told The Moscow News.

Ivanova used to write a blog about depression, with a specific focus on seasonal depression – a condition she said she has suffered from in some way or another for as long as she remembers. Following a harassment campaign against her by a group of trolls, Ivanova took her blog down.

“I’m glad I wrote it all under a pseudonym,” she said. “People can get surprisingly vindictive when they get into disagreements on the Internet – especially when these disagreements concern [one’s] health and lifestyle choices.”

Seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, tends to affect some people during the darker, colder months – although instances of SAD cropping up in the spring or summer are not unheard of. And while for some sufferers, keeping SAD under control is relatively easy, others see their work performance and personal relationships suffer.

In the colder months, SAD sufferers experience feelings of lethargy, weight gain, changes in appetite and, above all else, persistent feelings of depression and gloom. And in modern Russia, where awareness of how to cope with psychological problems is quickly gaining ground among the general populace, sufferers have noted that the famously grim Russian winter does play a big role in how they feel.

“When I was studying abroad in warmer countries, it was easier to deal with feelings of sadness and depression in the fall and winter,” Ivanova said. “Of course, there’s still nothing like enjoying the snow on a sunny winter day somewhere in a Moscow park – but the marked lack of sunlight in the European part of Russia does make a difference, I think.”

Ivanova believes that a lack of information about SAD leads to disbelief and denial of symptoms, even among sufferers themselves. “Seasonal depression is not the same as getting occasionally irritated about ice and snow on the roads, or about having to stuff yourself in a warm parka every time you go outside,” she said. “It’s a persistent condition – and I know for a fact that it runs in my family, though my relatives remain in denial.”

Let there be light

According to Robert Auger, a sleep specialist and psychiatrist at the Mayo Clinic in the United States, spending plenty of time outdoors and exercising regularly is crucial for SAD sufferers. “There is no substitute for natural light,” he was quoted as saying by the Mayo Clinic’s official website. 

For those who aren’t able to spend much time outdoors, Auger recommends investing in a light therapy box – a popular device for combating SAD in the West.

In Russia, light therapy boxes are still a fairly rare household item. “Most people don’t realize that light therapy can be helpful in combating SAD,” Vera Romanyuk, a psychologist, told The Moscow News. “Light therapy is usually advertised as an in-patient procedure at various clinics – as a means of combating problems with the central nervous system, for example.”

Romanyuk believes that SAD sufferers are better off just ordering a light therapy box online, as outpatient procedures are expensive and most are not technically geared towards easing depression-like symptoms.

“A lot of people paint light therapy as some sort of mystical mumbo jumbo – but it should be pretty straightforward: light therapy boxes are to be switched on in the morning, for about half an hour,” she said. “The key is not trying to overthink what is meant to be a simple procedure.”

Say no to tanning beds

According to SAD sufferer Ivanova, there is a common misconception in Moscow that tanning salons help “cure” the problem. “I even saw one tanning salon advertising itself as a ‘cure for seasonal blues’ – which is silly,” she said. “Tanning beds are only helpful for those who miss having a great tan in the winter time – and aren’t afraid of wrinkles and possible skin cancer.”

Embrace the gloom

Therapist Romanyuk believes that alongside traditional methods of battling SAD, people who are affected by the seasons should also learn to find the positive elements of a gloomy winter or a hot summer.

“Being able to enjoy yourself is key,” she said. “For example, you hate winter! It affects you badly! Fine, great, you can accept that! But you can also discover special winter-time activities that brighten your mood and help you get on with your life.”

Such activities can be as predictable as taking up skiing – or as unusual as indulging in tea ceremonies in basement cafes in Moscow. “The trick is doing something that offsets the cold and dark – or helps you enjoy it,” Romanyuk said. “One of my clients who suffered persistent feelings of depression in the winter got into a habit of preparing elaborate winter-time meals at night: hot soups, spicy entrees, a glass of homemade mulled wine for desert, and so on.

She used to say to me – well, I can’t enjoy mulled wine in the summer now, can I? And it was one of those little habits that gradually helped her cope.”

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