(June 16, 2010) In the ultimate photo-op this week, Danjiangkou Mayor Zeng Wenhua, with press in tow, ladled a cup of water out of his city’s reservoir and drank it "without hesitation" to demonstrate its purity. The Danjiangkou Reservoir—on the Hanjiang River, a branch of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River—is slated to provide Beijing with water by 2014, once the central channel of the South-North Water Diversion scheme is completed.
UK to inquire into misuse of India education aid
(June 14, 2010) Britain has launched an inquiry into reports that millions of pounds of aid for education and the ‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’, has disappeared into the depths of corruption without any benefit to the poor children the aid was intended for.
Huang Wanli’s predictions for the Three Gorges come to pass
(June 12, 2010) Huang Wanli, renowned hydraulics engineer and Tsinghua University lecturer, first voiced his opposition to the large-scale damming of rivers by opposing the construction of the Sanmenxia dam in 1957. In the 1980s he became a vocal opponent of the Three Gorges project and contributed to Yangtze! Yangtze!, the important critique of the dam compiled by China’s celebrated investigative journalist, Dai Qing. Now, as the Three Gorges dam is beset by monumental operational problems, Huang Wanli’s prescient analysis helps explain why it was a mistake to build the biggest dam in the world. Read his 1993 interview with Dai Qing.
Going After Government Looters
(June 11, 2010) Matthew Saltmarsh from the New York Times says the citizens of the Maldives are demanding former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom hand over the millions he stole while in power.
Migrants “happy” to be resettled says China’s state-run media
(June 11, 2010) The more than 60-thousand Chinese citizens who will be pushed off of their land to make way for a massive South-North Water Diversion project are, according to one government official, ‘eager to move.’
Third Climategate report ‘imminent’‚ – expect a shortage of whitewash in stores this weekend
(June 11, 2010) This is the third investigation into Climategate and the universal expectation is that it will be as much a snow job as the previous two, though those precedents will be hard to beat: not since Tom Sawyer manipulated his friends into whitewashing his aunt’s fence has a team worked harder than the successive establishment figures who have exonerated the Decline Hiders from any culpability.
Set for failure: As money for carbon-reducing forestry programs increases, so too does fraud and corruption
(June 10, 2010) As rich countries continue with plans to pour money into forestry programs in the developing world as a way to combat climate change they should heed warnings that the programs will fail to reduce carbon emissions, strip local citizens of their ownership rights, and be ridden with fraud and corruption.
Jailed China earthquake activist’s appeal declined
(June 9, 2010) Amnesty International has condemned Wednesday’s court decision to uphold a five year sentence imposed on a Chinese activist who tried to publicize the number of children who died during the Sichuan earthquake and the corruption that led to their deaths.
It’s official: global warming solutions will destroy the environment
(June 8, 2010) Solutions to solve global warming may actually cause more environmental damage.
Environmental group petitions Beijing government for stronger water regulations
(June 8, 2010) On Saturday, Friends of Nature (FON)—China’s oldest environmental organization—hosted a Conference for the release of their survey on public opinion regarding Beijing’s ongoing water crisis. As part of the conference, FON also issued a petition to the government, calling for urgent action from officials to help increase the city’s water-use efficiency and reduce pollution.
Thousands march in Chile against dams in Patagonia
(June 8, 2010) This past Saturday, June 5, colleagues in Chile marked the annual International Day for the Environment (el Día Internacional del Medioambiente) with a nationwide day of action.
Liberty endures in two-system China
(June 7, 2010) While China still often treats dissent with a mailed fist, the lesson of Hong Kong over the last 13 years is that Beijing is also capable of using the velvet glove, writes Gideon Rachman in The Financial Times.
Seeing is believing
(June 7, 2010) Li Yuling, the narrator of the most recent Oral History “A River Returns,” is featured in this China Daily report detailing the activities of Beijing citizens as they raise awareness on the dire state of the city’s once pristine rivers.
Beijing residents worry their city is running out of water, looking to government for action
(June 5, 2010) Three-quarters of those interviewed in a recent survey about Beijing’s water crisis say that they are concerned about the capital city’s water shortages and that they feel pollution and overexploitation of water are to blame. The survey, commissioned by Friends of Nature, China’s oldest environmental organization, was released in Beijing today, World Environment Day.
Friends of Nature petition to the Beijing government
(June 5, 2010) Friends of Nature (FON)—China’s oldest environmental organization—is hosting a Conference for the release of their survey on public opinion regarding Beijing’s ongoing water crisis. As part of the conference, FON has also issued this petition to the government, calling for urgent action from officials to help increase the city’s water-use efficiency and reduce pollution.
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