(September 13, 2011) China’s programme to shore up its thousands of aging reservoirs is undermined by corruption, rushed repairs and inadequate funds, leaving towns, lives and land at risk.
Other News Sources
Weibo Watch: Issue 4
(September 12, 2011) This week on Weibo Watch: controversy brews over a beer company’s plans to trek through a fragile nature reserve.
Water shortage in Chinese cities – what the public thinks
(September 5, 2011) City-dwellers in China say they have an urban water crisis with shortages and pollution posing the gravest threats, a new survey reveals.
Weibo Watch: Issue 3
(September 2, 2011) Weibo Watch: Issue 3 looks at China’s Eco-Water Tours; industrial stink, dangerous dams and drains that are completely fake.
Ai Weiwei ‘speaks out’ – in writing
Even a gag order can’t silence dissident artist Ai Weiwei on the dark subject of human rights in China.
China’s deadly dam fever
(August 31, 2011) Financial rewards for bypassing dam safety procedures have
created an unrestrained dam-building boom in China that is threatening lives and the
environment.
Weibo Watch: Issue No. 2
(August 30, 2011) In the latest installment of Weibo Watch, China’s netizens debate a Shanghai government plan to relocate 76 chemical factories to undisclosed locations in the next year; an opinion piece looks at why Environmental Protection Departments in China have become ‘Dissolving Departments;’ meanwhile a Yunnan newspaper reports that 5,000 tons of chromium waste has been dumped in several sites.
China dam shocker spreads
(August 26, 2011) China’s precarious dam reality has moved out into the open.
Dams gone wrong: Is danger lurking in China’s dams?
(August 24, 2011) One of China’s premier investigative news agencies reveals China’s dams “are like ticking time bombs:” beset by disaster, flaws, poor construction, neglect, and fraud.
Weibo Watch: Issue No. 1
(August 23, 2011) Weibo Watch summarizes the week’s environmental news, direct from the hearts and minds, and the keyboards, of China’s netizens as they work for change in the way decisions are made in their communities across China.
UN subsidizes CO2
(August 4, 2011) In its quest to promote green energy and reduce the world’s carbon footprint, the United Nations has so distorted the economics of power production that it is set to subsidize over three dozen coal plants in India with some $5.3 billion in “carbon credits.”
Yangtze fishermen take a hit
(July 29, 2011) Since the construction of the Gezhouba and Three Gorges dams, Yangtze River’s fish stocks have been declining. The government’s solution – the “Fisherman on Land” program – has forced “boat families,” who once earned a living from the fish bounty of the Yangtze, to move ashore and find work in factories.
Dai Qing barred from writers’ meeting
(July 23, 2011) Dai Qing was among several writers blocked from attending a discussion on free expression held by the international writers’ group, PEN, in Beijing.
Yangtze fish take a hit
(July 19, 2011) China’s weekly newspaper, the Economic Observer, says the Three Gorges dam is the primary reason for the demise of the Yangtze’s “big four” fish species. By changing the hydrological regime downstream of the dam, the fry population of the black, grass, silver, and bighead carp have plummeted by 97%. Attempts to simulate the original hydrological conditions with forced water releases and restocking the river with broodstock will be futile say experts.
Egypt Rethinking Aid Options
(July 15, 2011) Since the days of President Anwar Sadat through January of this year, Egypt has relied heavily on Western sources for assistance as well as for loans and credits.
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
Lisa Peryman
Probe Media
Other News Sources
Probe International 