[Marxism] RE: USSR, Democracy, and the Environment

["Calvin Broadbent" <calvinbroadbent@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear all,
I would really appreciate it if anyone could respond to me concerning a
problem I am thinking over. The question I am considering is 'was the
environmental degradation in the USSR (like chernobyl, sulphur pollution,
air pollution, environmentally costly  mining, etc.) the result of
undemocratic politics'? Was environmental devastation a result of the
dictates of the Soviet planned (or I think better) command economy? I have
been reading over Mark Jones' excellent writings, some of which seem to
suggest that the 'law of value' was still fully in operation in the USSR,
and that it was impossible thus, without greater socialist democracy at any
rate, to properly control the rate of exploitation of natural resources.
I realise this is a big question, and I am not at all trying to spark a
debate over the socialist credentials of the former USSR in the Stalin
period or whenever. I am, however, interested in what options for
environmetal protection were open to the Soviet regime in the face of its
possible nuclear annihilation and the reality of global embargo.
Any comments or critical remarks would be greatly appreciated.
cheers

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