Over 100,000 people have signed an online bill on the protection of the seas from petroleum pollution. The bill was introduced to the parliament in April, as stated by Igor Chestin, Director of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), RIA Novosti reports.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in his article in February that the parliament should consider initiatives that receive 100,000 Internet signatures.
The bill was introduced by Nikolai Valuyev who supported the Earth Hour this year, as well as MPs of the committee for natural resources and ecology.
The bill was developed by ecologists with members of a related committee of the parliament in 2010. It sets harsher responsibility for polluting the sea with petroleum, sets formation of a national fund for emergency situations, insurance of civil property when extracting and transporting resources.
The parliament passed the bill prepared by the Russian Ministry for Ecology in autumn 2011, introducing changes to laws on prevention of petroleum pollution. Environment protectors say that the document lacks the most essential ecological initiatives.
