Out of all the things that could pop up to drive a wedge between Kremlin elites, from foreign meddling to money to competing powers of the clans, you would have never guessed that the environment could become so troublesome an issue. At the end of May President Dmitry Medvedev openly criticized Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for his ruinous record on the environment, namely his decision to re-open the Lake Baikal pulp and paper plant mill, which has drawn scores of protesters in recent months.

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But Lake Baikal now seems to be a topic officials are keen to avoid. At a relatively recent speech at an international conference entitled “St. Petersburg – Marine Capital of RUSSIA!”, Vladimir Kirilov, the chief of Rosprirodnadzor [Russia’s government environmental watchdog agency–Trans.], gave a long speech on our nation’s policy toward its waters. Although the speech took place some months ago, I only just recently discovered a transcript of his comments, which I had naively hoped would contain at least some kind of explanation for the actions (past and future) of the government with respect to waste discharge into Lake Baikal.

Judging by the dramatic account of Kirilov’s speech on the Rosprirodnadzor website (apparently the bureaucrat’s comments “evoked the lively reaction of the hall, laid the beginning for a hot discussion“), I prepared myself for the typical letdown that comes after such great moments in propaganda. Just what might we expect from this “lively reaction” and ensuing “hot discussion”?