The Olympics are finally over. Maybe your countries athletes performed admirably, or perhaps they didn’t quite live up to expectations. Whatever the case, Russia now has some major cleaning up to do. You may have heard about their trashing of villages near the construction of the Olympic Stadium. Nobody really reacted to this news like they did upon hearing how China was displacing homeless people in anticipation of the 2008 Summer Olympics. This should concern you. While “politics as usual” is nothing new, especially when it comes to environmental politics, this is a clear cut example of letting things slip… read more

Five years ago when Sochi was selected to serve as the venue for the 2014 Winter Olympics, there were concerns of environmental damage that might happen during construction of the main stadium. Today, it appears that those concerns were well founded, and completely avoidable as well. Considering Russia’s lax stance on eco conservation though, one is not to be surprised to discover damage being done to nearby ecosystems. A report by The Guardian a few months ago documented some of the side effects of building an Olympic Dream — a dust-covered village, harmful chemicals being released, fields of debris, and… read more