10-16-2009, 01:41 AM
<a class='bbc_url' href='http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/luzhkov-takes-snow-fight-to-the-sky/387446.html'>Via Foreign Policy Blog</a>
Quote:Moscow will blast clouds from the sky this winter to save money on snow removal, a city official said Wednesday, but the plan threatens to anger the surrounding region, which would have to cope with the extra powder.i hate to think of the environmental impact...
Airborne snowfall prevention will save the city about 300 million rubles ($10.2 million) this winter, said Andrei Tsybin, head of City Hall?s department for public works and utilities. Moscow is ready to spend about 180 million rubles to disperse clouds ?in the event of very big and serious snowfall,? he said at a news conference.
Mayor Yury Luzhkov is a long-time proponent of fighting clouds by spraying liquid nitrogen, silver, or cement particles into the cloud mass, which forces precipitation to fall before it can reach the capital and spoil holidays like Victory Day and City Day.
Last month, Luzhkov proposed expanding the technology to fight the snow drifts that snarl traffic every winter.
?What if we force this snow to fall beyond Moscow? The Moscow region will have more water, bigger harvests, while we will have less snow,? he said at an award ceremony for Moscow?s best-kept yard.
He said that using the Air Force to prevent massive snowfall would be three times cheaper than using the regular system of trucks and snow-melting stations.
The city approved the proposal in record time.
Quote:Â5 hours ago Mavenu hm. I guess I shouldn't point out that Max Barry's not even from America, but is an Australian?
4 hours ago NationStates Moderators When did actual facts or logic have anything to do with idiot spammers?
Change comes not when some group of radical seizes power, thatââ¬â¢s just a shift at the top. It comes when Mr. And Mrs. Ordinary make a stand. When the cake shop owner and teacher and the bearer boy come together and say, ââ¬ËThey are not afraid,ââ¬â¢ anymore.
Monica Whitlock ââ¬â BBC ââ¬ÅFrom our own Correspondentââ¬Â
Nov 7/05 ââ¬â in reference to actions in Uzbekistan, May 2005.