(March 16, 2010) A decade ago, China’s leaders gave the go-ahead to a colossal plan to bring more than 8 trillion gallons of water a year from the rivers of central China to the country’s arid north. The project would have erected towering dams, built hundreds of miles of pipelines and tunnels, and created vast reservoirs with a price tag three times that of the giant Three Gorges Dam.
Blame on Chinese dams rise as Mekong River dries up
(March 17, 2010) As the water level in the Mekong River dips to a record 50-year low, a familiar pattern of fault-finding has risen to the surface. China, the regional giant through which parts of South-east Asia’s largest waterway flows through, is again at the receiving end of verbal salvoes from its neighbours.
When the Mekong runs dry
(March 17, 2010) Low water levels on the upper Mekong River have renewed criticism over hydropower dams China has erected on the waterway’s upper reaches. Environmental groups and governments have pinned blame on China’s inward-looking water management policies, although some experts say the real culprit is unusually severe drought conditions in southwestern China, northern Thailand and Laos.
Purification project launched to prevent water blooms
(March 17, 2010) The purification project was launched on Tuesday at the Beijing Zoo for major water bodies in the city, and will be finished by August. The project is expected to improve the clarity of the water and also help build a self-purification system for the lakes, in particular, effectively preventing water blooms, which occur every year in Beijing.
Thanks but no thanks: Bangladesh says no to climate aid from the UK
(March 16, 2010) Bagladesh has refused a $94-million-dollar offer of climate aid from the British government, saying the money, which would have been channelled through the World Bank, comes attached with unfavourable terms and conditions.
Opening the books: Chinese citizens calling for greater transparency
(March 16, 2010) Ren Xinghui’s recent decision to sue China’s Ministry of Finance over the Three Gorges levy – added to electricity bills in the 1990s to help pay for the massive infrastructure project – has raised a number of eyebrows.
Chalillo Dam
(March 15, 2010) Copyright@2008 Tony Rath/tonyrath.com. All Rights Reserved. http://www.tonyrath.com.
Siltation from the Chalillo Dam in the Mountain Pine Ridge Region of Belize.
(March 15, 2010) Copyright@2008 Tony Rath/tonyrath.com. All Rights Reserved. http://www.tonyrath.com.
State funding fuels China’s global push in wind, sun
(December 22, 2009) Most of China’s alternative energy makers, including solar firms Yingli Energy Holdings and Suntech Power Holdings, and wind gear maker China High Speed Transmission, already have access to low-interest financing from state-run banks to fund their growth as well as client purchases.
China’s wind power plans turn on coal
(December 10, 2009) So far, wind energy makes up just 0.4 percent of China’s electricity supply. However, Beijing is building the world’s biggest wind power project, although paradoxically, adding wind power in China also means adding new polluting coal-fired power stations.
Chinese dams blamed for Mekong’s dwindling flows and fish stocks
(March 14, 2010) Something is wrong with the mighty Mekong River, which frames the lives of 250 million people in six countries of Southeast Asia through which it flows and on which 60 million people depend directly for their livelihoods.
Anti-rape funds in Congo wasted: critics
(March 14, 2010) Since 2006, Canada has poured $15-million in government money into a massive foreign campaign against the sexual violence in Congo. But Ms. Bihamba, who as leader of a women’s group spent lonely years speaking out against the problem, is now one of a growing number of skeptics who question whether this money is achieving its goals.
Low level of Mekong raises concerns over water management
(March 14, 2010) The Mekong River, South-East Asia’s longest waterway, is at its lowest level in 50 years, raising questions about who is to blame – mankind or Mother Nature – for the region’s diminishing water supply. The 4,350-kilometre-long river originates in southern China and meanders through Laos and Thailand into Cambodia, where it feeds Tongle Sap Lake before reaching southern Vietnam and emptying into the South China Sea.
Severe drought puts spotlight on Chinese dams
(March 12, 2010) Environmental groups in Thailand and elsewhere lay at least part of the blame of the recent drought on China’s doorstep. They claim that China’s management of a series of dams on the Lancang has aggravated the unfolding crisis. The Thai media has helped stir up emotions; one editorial in the Bangkok Post last month was headlined "China’s dams killing Mekong." Yet Chinese engineers and some other scientists say the criticism is unfounded.
The Three Gorges reservoir has become a danger
(March 11, 2010) The large-scale construction that accompanied the building of the Three Gorges dam and its reservoir has increased the number of landslides—both new and reactivated—in the surrounding area. County seats recently built on land near the reservoir are now particularly prone to landslides. Local schools and residential buildings are already suffering cracked foundations and walls.
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
Lisa Peryman
Probe Media
Other News Sources
Probe International 