Calgary >>> Meet Snow Removal Russian Style (NYT_Freakanomics Blog)

 
March 16, 2010, 9:30 AM

Mayor of Moscow versus Mother Nature: A winner is declared

By STEVEN D. LEVITT

This fall, Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov made a bold declaration.  With the help of the Russian Air Force, he was going to use cloud seeding techniques to keep it from snowing in Moscow this winter.  (See my earlier blog post
for the details.)

Did Luzhkov vanquish Mother Nature as he predicted he would?

A recent UPI article provides the verdict:

MOSCOW SEES RECORD AMOUNT OF SNOW
MOSCOW, Feb. 23 (UPI) — An estimated 12,000 snow-clearing machines were deployed throughout Moscow after a record-breaking snowfall of nearly 25 inches, officials said. Snow from the weekend storm broke a record for February set in 1966, RIA Novosti reported Tuesday.

The snow fell steadily for nearly four days, easing Tuesday morning with forecasts calling for clear skies.

The snow-clearing machines were assisted by 8,500 dump trucks in removing snow from streets, where traffic had slowed to a crawl and some roads were impassable, authorities said. “Public utilities continue to operate in emergency mode. The snow must be removed,” said Igor Pergamenshchik, a spokesman for the city of Moscow.

Let’s hope Luzhkov’s next prediction is that he will eliminate all economic growth in Moscow, and that he fails just as spectacularly at that goal.