For anyone needing the reminder, the Three Gorges Dam is the world’s largest power station located in Hubei Province, China. The plant has faced some criticism due to displacement of people around it and other environmental impacts, although some of this is criticism is of course coming from The China Bad Times.
The environmental impacts of this dam were immense, as were just the like impacts on real people. Millions of people were moved to newly built cities or existing cities because their homes were flooded. Entire cities were dismantled. It was an absolutely massive project that unequivocally made the lives of millions worse (at least in the short term and watching their homes be flooded intentionally). Granted taming the Yellow River is a massive feat, and the power this thing generates is insane, but there are plenty of legitimate critiques to be made.
Even in the long term, it (1) breaks the river into pieces, preventing fish moving up and down, (2) causes silting of the reservoir and lack of silt deposition downstream, and (3) can stress the underlying rock, which is not a great idea in earthquake-proe areas (like northeast China).
Oh yeah don’t get me wrong there are valid criticisms of it. Particularly environmental ones as dams tend to fuck up river ecology a LOT. But these people don’t care about that, they fantasize about blowing it up as a genocidal act against innocent civilians.
For anyone needing the reminder, the Three Gorges Dam is the world’s largest power station located in Hubei Province, China. The plant has faced some criticism due to displacement of people around it and other environmental impacts, although some of this is criticism is of course coming from The China Bad Times.
The environmental impacts of this dam were immense, as were just the like impacts on real people. Millions of people were moved to newly built cities or existing cities because their homes were flooded. Entire cities were dismantled. It was an absolutely massive project that unequivocally made the lives of millions worse (at least in the short term and watching their homes be flooded intentionally). Granted taming the Yellow River is a massive feat, and the power this thing generates is insane, but there are plenty of legitimate critiques to be made.
This is what actually good-faith criticism of socialism looks like, as opposed to liberals’ “communism no iphone 100 billion dead.”
Common hexbear W
Hydro in general might be clean but it is so environmentally destructive :(
you have to weigh the destruction it causes in the short term to the preservation it contributes to in the long term
Even in the long term, it (1) breaks the river into pieces, preventing fish moving up and down, (2) causes silting of the reservoir and lack of silt deposition downstream, and (3) can stress the underlying rock, which is not a great idea in earthquake-proe areas (like northeast China).
in the long term it is another piece in the energy puzzle that prevents the death of all life on earth but i can understand your concerns
Oh yeah don’t get me wrong there are valid criticisms of it. Particularly environmental ones as dams tend to fuck up river ecology a LOT. But these people don’t care about that, they fantasize about blowing it up as a genocidal act against innocent civilians.