Monday, 02 Jun 2003

Our Gorge Is Rising

China yesterday blocked the flow of the Yangtze River by closing gates at the massive Three Gorges Dam and began to fill up what will be the world's largest reservoir. It's a joyous occasion for government engineers and Communist Party faithful who have long touted the coming benefits of hydroelectric power and flood control, and it's a devastating blow to environmentalists and up to 2 million people who will eventually be displaced by the rising waters. The reservoir will grow to be 385 miles long and a mile wide and will submerge two cities and 1,352 villages. Enviros warn that it's poised to become a cesspool, as the settlements to be flooded contain decades worth of accumulated trash and toxic waste, and Chongqing and other cities along the reservoir's shores will dump billions of cubic feet of industrial waste straight into the water each year. Small cracks have already been uncovered in the dam, and a handful of people have been arrested for providing substandard construction materials. Many residents of the area are refusing the leave. "The water is going to take my livelihood away from me," said 60-year-old farmer Du Xiaoshan, whose fields will be submerged. "Farming oranges is all I know."

The Price Pump Is Right

A growing number of California businesses are taking steps to become more eco-friendly, and are saving money in the process, according to a new survey conducted by the Sonoma County Economic Development Board. One example is the Price Pump Co. in Sonoma, which has switched to more environmentally conscious packaging, using brown boxes instead of bleached-white ones and eliminating use of nonbiodegradable foam packing material -- moves that are cutting costs by about $40,000 a month. "My motivation is to stay in business and make money," said Bob Piazza, president of Price Pump. "If I can do that and be environmentally conscious, why not?" Of the 107 companies that responded to the survey, 88 percent said they are making efforts to conserve energy and 70 percent believe conservation practices save money. Meanwhile, shareholders are ramping up green pressure on corporations by offering an increasing number of shareholder resolutions that call on companies to improve their environmental performance. Last week, almost one-quarter of shareholders of the Southern Company voted for a resolution that would require the utility to assess and report on the potential financial risks of producing greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.

Don't Fear the Reefer

The Australian government today announced plans to put nearly one-third of the Great Barrier Reef off limits to fishing and trawling. "This will provide the largest network of protected marine areas in the world," said Minister for the Environment David Kemp. Environmental advocates praised the move but pointed out that the government needs to do more, including protect additional sensitive sections of the reef, curb oil and gas exploration in reef areas, and tackle climate change, which causes bleaching of coral reefs. "They could ratify the Kyoto Protocol and ensure that Australia becomes a world leader in efforts to tackle climate change, because that's the biggest threat to the reef in the future," said Don Henry, executive director of the Australian Conservation Foundation. But the current conservative administration in the country has no such intentions. Prime Minister John Howard pledged today that Australia will not ratify Kyoto, arguing that the treaty would hurt Australia's economy and that it's not viable without the participation of the U.S.

Paddle-tale

Wisconsin may be home to 44,000 miles of rivers and 15,000 lakes, but conservationists in the state are too smart to take clean and plentiful water for granted. Citizens have formed more than 100 community-based river and watershed organizations and 600 to 700 lake associations to protect their precious liquid assets, and Lisa Goodman, the northern coordinator for local group assistance at the River Alliance of Wisconsin, gets to work with many of these groups of dedicated activists. In a week of diary entries for Grist, Goodman tells how the River Alliance is working to safeguard shorelines, plan for its upcoming 10th anniversary celebration, and help river lovers around the U.S. press for removal of destructive dams. And Goodman doesn't just work on water; she plays on water too -- paddling quietly up her local river on early morning excursions, learning to flyfish, and stumbling into rowdy after-work games of dead fish polo. Read up on these and other river exploits, only on the Grist Magazine website.

Stock Options

Pressure is mounting in the U.S. for major reform of fisheries policies, with the aim of rebuilding fish stocks that have been decimated by decades of overfishing and ecosystem degradation. "What's going on out there is the last buffalo hunt with regard to our fisheries," said Leon Panetta, former chief of staff under President Clinton and now chair of the Pew Oceans Commission, a private group that has been studying the dilemma for three years and will unveil a set of recommendations this week. Marine scientists say that catches need to be reduced for at least several years to allow fish stocks to recover. If stocks are rebuilt, the U.S. could eventually double current catch levels, which would boost the nation's economy by $1.3 billion and create tens of thousands of jobs, Panetta said. Many scientists and fishers are pushing for creation of a network of protected marine reserves where sea life could regenerate and help repopulate adjacent areas. Scientists are also calling for fishing methods and gear to be improved, noting that massive trawling nets harm coral reefs and sensitive ocean-floor areas and that tens of billions of pounds of marine life and sea birds are unintentionally injured or killed each year.