(February 1, 2010) Big dams have a serious record of social and environmental destruction, and there are many alternatives. So why are they still being built?
Behind the Red Curtain: Environmental Concerns and the End of Communism
(February 1, 2010) With the environment in such a problematic state, and structural and ideological problems precluding effective responses within a Communist system, it would have been remarkable if environmental problems did not play a major role in bringing down the system.
Sturgeon farms cleared from Three Gorges Dam area for navigation safety
(January 28, 2010) Sturgeon farmers in the Three Gorges area of China’s Yangtze River are dismantling their fish tanks in order to keep navigation channels safe and clear.
Rule of law meets the Three Gorges dam
(January 27, 2010) Ren XingHui, a Beijing resident, has made headlines in the Chinese Internet press by using the country’s new disclosure law to request information about government funding of the Three Gorges dam.
Beijing resident sues the Ministry of Finance, requiring the disclosure of the Three Gorges dam cost
(January 26, 2010) Last year, Ren XingHui, a citizen of Beijing, submitted an application to the Ministry of Finance for the public disclosure of the Three Gorges dam cost but was rejected. Yesterday, Ren XingHui filed a law suit against the Ministry of Finance in Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court.
Three Gorges pushes another 300,000 off their land, surprises nobody
(January 21, 2010) The Chinese government is preparing to push another 300,000 residents living near the Three Gorges dam off their land to make way for what officials are calling an “eco-screen, or buffer belt.”
Optimizing ecosystem services in China
(November 7, 2008) With the Three Gorges Dam’s flood level, former cities, homes, and farm fields of about 1.5 million people will be seasonally under water, and a set of new unique ecosystems will develop. The extent of the impact of this unprecedented amount of wetland underwater,the potential ecological systems that will result on the borders of this reservoir, and possible approaches to minimize the impacts or enhance ecological services are mostly unknown.
The international expansion of Chinese dam builders
(January 13, 2010) Historically, Western countries have provided the technology for the bulk of China’s hydropower dams. The first turbines to be installed on a river in China was under the Qing Dynasty in 1909, by German company Siemens. But when the Chinese government decided to build the giant Three Gorges and Ertan dams in the early 1990s, it decided to do things differently.
State policies leaving Chinese citizens out in the cold
(January 11, 2010) While citizens across China are confronting some of the most severe winter weather in decades, they’re finding that holdover policies from the Maoist era are making the situation worse.
Three Gorges dam fails to provide during winter storm
(January 6, 2010) The much-promised electricity from the Three Gorges dam is failing China’s citizens when they need it most—during one of the most intense winter storms the country has experienced in decades. According to recent reports, the Chinese government is now urging the country’s factory operators to scale back operations to ensure sufficient power to heat homes, as demand has surged with the below-freezing temperatures.
Drought poses a risk to reservoir and people
(January 6, 2010) A severe drought around the Yangtze River has caused the water level in the Three Gorges Reservoir to stay much lower than the anticipated level of 175 meters and that could complicate plans for farmers and millions of others who rely on the river to survive.
Chronology of Ren Xinghui’s case: Prepared by Probe International
(January 4, 2010) A chronology of Ren Xinghui’s quest to discover what happened to the money collected for the Three Gorges Construction Fund.
Sichuan Quake brochure
(January 4, 2010) An excellent brochure, providing details on the deadly May 2008 Sichuan Earthquake and the possibility that the Zipingpu Dam may have caused it.
Absence of Justice
(January 1, 2010) First in a series of oral histories, banned and famed Chinese environmentalist and journalist Dai Qing organized a team of journalists to record a remarkable collection of oral histories from the riverside towns and villages affected by the Three Gorges dam on China’s Yangtze River. “On November 18, 2002, the government of Dachang Zhen (Great Prosperity Town) in Wushan County, Yangtze River, sent the following dispatch about the wharf and the house belonging to Lu Chengming, who was to be relocated:…”
Bright Sun City’s Dark Intent
(January 1, 2010) The third in a series of oral histories from China’s Three Gorges region. Banned and famed Chinese environmentalist and journalist Dai Qing has organized a team of journalists to record a remarkable collection of oral histories from the riverside towns and villages affected by the Three Gorges dam on China’s Yangtze River.
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
Lisa Peryman
Patricia Adams and Lawrence Solomon
Other News Sources
