Vybik Jon
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Progress!
Jun 02, 2003, 13:22
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The Great Wall sized dam that's coming on line in the Yangtze River will destroy 13 cities, 140 towns, 1300 villages, 1600 factories and 1300 archeological sites.
That's a lot of life and history gone in a flash. And they could (literally) be up shit creek shortly, if projections are accurate.
It is green power I guess, but is this the price that has to be paid?
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grufty jim
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Re: Progress!
Jun 02, 2003, 13:34
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>
> It is green power I guess, but is this the price
> that has to be paid?
>
depends upon how you define "green power" i guess. The Three Gorges dam project may well turn out to be the biggest single environmental disaster in human history. Hardly very "green".
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Vybik Jon
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Re: Progress!
Jun 02, 2003, 13:37
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I think that's what I mean.
It's not coal/gas/oil/nuclear produced electricity, so there are those who would say it's green.
But as you say - the cost.
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grufty jim
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Re: Progress!
Jun 02, 2003, 14:08
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This dam (or - more accurately - system of dams) will generate as much electricity as "26 nuclear power plants or 10 big coal-fired power stations burning 50 million tons of coal". And it will reduce - eventually even prevent - the almost annual flooding that brings so much misery to large areas of rural China.
The attitude of the Chinese government seems to be basically:
These things are desirable, therefore we shall carry out the project. We are smart enough, and strong enough, to deal effectively with any negative consequences.
But of course, they almost certainly aren't. They run the risk of dealing a killer blow to the already ailing water table and *completely* destroying both the natural ecosystems of and the fertility of a region that straddles both the Chinese rice and wheat producing areas.
It's a recipe for famine and ecological disaster. And it highlights the fact that western capitalism hasn't completely cornered the market in short-sighted stupidity.
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