Matt Dougherty May 6, 2013
Earth Science/Ms. Davies
Jacobs, Andrew. "Plans to Harness Chinese
River’s Power Threaten a Region." The New York Times. N.p., 4
May 2013. Web. 6 May 2013.
The article I
chose was entitled “Plans to Harness Chinese River’s Power Threaten a Region.”
This article talks about how the Nu River in China has little chance of being
the one of the region’s last free-flowing rivers. The Chinese government
revived plans to build a series of hydropower dams in one of the worlds most
ecologically diverse fragile places. Among the most affected are farmers and
fishermen downstream in Myanmar and Thailand, whose resources and ecosystems
will be altered by the series of dams. The government, according to its most
recent plan, looks to begin construction on three hydroelectric projects, which
will have twice the hydropower capacity of the United States. The series of
dams would alter what many call the Grand Canyon of the East, a 370-mile long
gorge housing roughly half of China’s animal species, including many endangered
animals such as the snow leopard and the red panda. Environmentalists look to
stop the destruction of one of China’s last free flowing waterways. The Yangtze
River has been tamed by the $25 billion project of the Three Gorges Dam. Others
say China has no choice but to move forward with dams, given the nations
reliance on coal. On the other hand, environmentalists argue that the reservoirs
created by the dams will swallow up forests, so the project isn’t necessarily “clean.”
Most of the 60,000 people likely to be displaces by the project really don’t have
an option. “We’ve worked hard to build this place,” Yu Shangping says, “but
when the government wants to construct a dam, there’s nothing you can do about
it.”
Because
this article takes place on the opposite side of the world, it does not impact
my life greatly. However, to many people in China, the decisions of the
government drastically impact their life. For example, construction of the dams
would force around 60,000 people to relocate into cramped government-issued
tenements. As one person said, they went from producing enough food for
themselves, to having to buy everything. Also, this project would greatly
impact the wildlife. Although it would provide an alternative source of energy,
it would greatly alter ecosystems, many of which contain endangered species. I chose
this article because, even though it occurs on the other side of the world, it
still is a pretty interesting article to debate over. It raises some good
points that are definitely strong opinions and allow you to see both sides of
the situation.
Overall,
this article was very well written. It started very broad and then zoomed in on
specific topics raised by the broad question. I enjoyed its use of quotes because
they really helped enhance opinions and you could really see through the eyes
of someone experiencing the situation. I enjoyed how the article referenced
other similar projects like the Three Gorges Dam and how that has impacted
China. Also, the article referenced how these dams would affect people in
surrounding countries. However, I felt as if the article focused too much on
the negative aspects of building these dams and did not offer as much of an
argument for the other side. Still, it was a very interesting article that I for
one enjoyed.
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ReplyDeleteSteven Ircha 5/27/2013
ReplyDeleteEarth Science/Ms. Davies Blog Comment Quarter 4
You presented this article very well. One point that was particularly well presented was your background information. This was most effective when you talked about the Chinese government’s plans of hydro-power. This really helped to set up the reader with some knowledge about the Chinese government before talking about the actual problem and was extremely effective. A second well-presented point was your use of scientist quotations. There were many very lofty claims made in this article that are easy to shrug off as exaggerations but reinforcements from scientists such as Yu Shangping and others helped to reinforce your data and prove the statements made about the future of the Chinese people from the scientific developments. Finally your analysis of the impact of the dam project was very well done. You reacted honestly and told only the very real possibilities of a future with this new massive dam in China. You were very logical and did not try to make up unrealistic scenarios to prove your points, it was done very elegantly.
While reading your summary I found a few facts particularly interesting. Namely, the first aspect of this dam I found astounding was its size. 370 miles of gorge will be made and put up for this dam project, 370 miles! This number is astounding and proves human’s technological advancement and China’s over the past few centuries. A second interesting piece of information was that of the Three Gorges Dam Project that has already been done in China. It mentions a major river the, Yangtze, and while a much smaller project still cost 25 billion dollars. Again this points to the extreme size and cost of the hydro-electric dam that is to be built and the great risk the Chinese government is taking on now. It also gives some insights into the opposition the Chinese government will face in terms of wildlife supporters because the conflicts of interests between these groups has already played out in the past, and will surely cross paths again.
Finally, although this was a nearly flawless summary, I did have one complaint. This article focused mainly on the negative effects the dam will have on the Chinese people and wildlife. There was not enough information I felt on the true benefits this dam will bring to the Chinese people. I would like to know a little more about the specific economic benefits this will have for China and the ways the government plans to use this to help themselves and their people. Besides being a little vague on the benefits of the dam this is a great article that I enjoyed reading greatly!
I read Matt’s current events report about hydroelectric dams being built in China and I thought that he did a great job overall. In the beginning of the report, I think that he did an especially good job in giving background information about the issue, because the clarity of his descriptions of the topic allowed for the reader to easily understand what his article was about. This drew the reader in and made it so they formed an opinion on the topic early on, which led into the opinions expressed in the article smoothly. Another aspect of the report that worked well was his criticism of the article not talking about both sides of the issue equally. This is a good observation and both sides should be talked about equally if the article intends to be unbiased. A third thing that worked was his use of quotes. The quotes that were chosen enhanced what he was talking about and flowed well with what he was writing, so it was a good addition to have them there. From reading the report, I learned about this controversy happening in China which I had never heard of previously. It was interesting to learn about why China feels the need to unveil these new dams (a heavy reliance on coal) and then the impact it would have on the wilderness. Also, I found it interesting to see how China was willing to flood an area housing half of its animal species including some endangered ones like the red panda and the snow leopard. This idea is absurd to me and I don’t think the hydroelectric dams should be built at any cost. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the report, there was something that could have been improved upon. I think that the second paragraph could have been expressed a bit more clearly and it could have answered how this topic does reflect similar problems happening in America and other places in the world. Other than that, it was a well done report.
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