It's Still Dammed If They Do, And Damned If They Don't

China announces vague plans to mitigate environmental impacts of Three Gorges Dam

Posted at 8:07 AM on 26 Nov 2007

Attempting to curb fresh criticism of the country's massive Three Gorges Dam spurred by a landslide that killed over 30 people, China announced a set of vague initiatives to improve the environmental problems caused by the world's largest dam. While no one has directly tied the landslide that killed a construction worker and a bus full of people to the Three Gorges Dam, the slide is consistent with the dam's effects in the area, including increased seismic activity thought to be caused by water penetrating porous, formerly dry rock. Other environmental problems associated with the dam and its 410-mile-long reservoir include water pollution, massive algal blooms, and soil erosion. The Three Gorges Dam has already officially displaced some 1.3 million people and plans have been announced to relocate up to about 4 million more. The director of the Three Gorges Project Committee, Wang Xiaofeng, said that treating the geological hazards posed by the mega-dam was important "to ensure the lives and property of the people in the reservoir region." Well, those who are left anyway.

sources: The Scotsman, The New York Times, Associated Press

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Comments: (5 comments)

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Cost of clean energy

Clean energy is great. It's the way to go. But stories like this highlight the true cost. Imagine hundreds and thousands of these dams, which is what it would take to completely get rid of fossil fuels, and think about the environmental impact of that.

We need to think very carefully about how our sustainable energy plans will pan out....

http://www.talkclimatechange.com

TalkClimateChange - news, opinion, talk.

by mseall at 12:46 PM on 26 Nov 2007

Yes and No

Clean energy is the way to go if (and only if) we also reduce our overall energy consumption. Not with silly attempts and replacing light bulbs, but with really changing our habits.

A world that is run as wastefully as North Americans have it is not sustainable for 6.5 billion people, or even just 500 million more than now. Come to think about it, it seems not sustainable with even the current numbers.

Sooner or later we will have to deal with not having a reliable supply of fossil fuels. Better be prepared and educated to tighten the belt before that happens.

As always, positively looking forward
Karsten
--
http://www.polluteless.com
Practical Advice to Pollute Less

by PolluteLessDotCom at 1:22 PM on 26 Nov 2007

Dams Not Clean

There is nothing clean or sustainable about dams. They are very ecologically destructive and the only ones on the planet who have any business building them are beavers. The Three Gorges Dam is an ecological disaster of global proportions due to its immense size.

The only real solutions to the problems caused by human consumption of energy are 1) lowering human population, 2) lowering our energy consumption, 3) limiting energy creation to truly sustainable and clean sources, such as solar and non-bird-killing wind generators, and 4) making all energy production local.

by Wolverine at 6:06 PM on 26 Nov 2007

Three Gorges Dam

It is more likely that the increased seismicity around the Three Gorges Dam is the result of the weight of the impounded water than of seepage of water into dry rocks

Howard Wilshire

by howardgw at 8:01 AM on 27 Nov 2007

Dam 1, Gorges 0

I've cruised along the Yangtze and seen the dam for myself. As far as engineering feats go, yes, it's very immpressive - especially the series of enormous locks you have to go through for boats to get out of the other side. In every other respect it's a total disaster.

Millions of people are set to lose their homes.

Villages and towns have been wiped out.

Pollution levels in the Yangtze are increasing - I certainly didn't fancy a swim in it!

The Yangtze River Dolphin has been driven to extinction.

Archeological sites have been lost under the waters forever.

The tremendously beautiful gorges after which the dam is named no longer exist - the water levels are so high they are little more than mounds now instead of towering cliffs.

It's an environemental nightmare from which there is no escape. Literally. I mean, what they going to do? Poke a hole in it and let the water back out?

A total disaster.

Steve N. Lee
Author of eco-suspense thriller 'What if...?' and
free eco-guide 'An Inconvenient Doofus' available from www.Steve-N-Lee.com

by SteveNLee at 1:21 AM on 28 Nov 2007

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