1 day ago — Dam, Dam, Dam! Is There a Place for Hydropower in a Warming World? By Joshua Frank. We live in a world of dangerous, deadly extremes. Record-breaking heat ...
"...For the first time ever, last year's global heat may even have breached the barrier set up in the 2015 Paris climate accord of 1.5 degrees Centigrade above the pre-industrial average. (If not, it came awfully close.) Meanwhile, from unparalleled rainstorms and floods to unparalleled fires, this planet and all of us on it are experiencing something new. In the context of that newness -- in a world where rivers are drying up -- things that once were a given no longer are. In today's case, let TomDispatch regular Joshua Frank, author of Atomic Days: The Untold Story of the Most Toxic Place in America, help us think about what it means to build giant dams across the planet. And while you're at it, keep in mind that we're all now living in a world that, not so long ago, would have seemed unbelievable -- and that in some cases, like drill, drill, drill, build, build, build may not be the dream formula it once was. Tom |
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Dam, Dam, Dam!Is There a Place for Hydropower in a Warming World?By Joshua FrankWe live in a world of dangerous, deadly extremes. Record-breaking heat waves, intense drought, stronger hurricanes, unprecedented flash flooding. No corner of the planet will be spared the wrath of human-caused climate change and the earth's fresh water is already feeling the heat of this new reality. More than half of the world’s lakes and two-thirds of its rivers are drying up, threatening ecosystems, farmland, and drinking water supplies. Such diminishing resources are also likely to lead to conflict and even, potentially, all-out war. “Competition over limited water resources is one of the main concerns for the coming decades,” warned a study published in Global Environmental Change in 2018. “Although water issues alone have not been the sole trigger for warfare in the past, tensions over freshwater management and use represent one of the main concerns in political relations between... states and may exacerbate existing tensions, increase regional instability and social unrest.” Click here to read more of this dispatch.
Whistleblowers, worried that the worst is ahead, are now speaking out, begging to be heard and hoping their pleas help bring attention to the dire situation at Hanford. Aside from a few feisty community groups and handful of Indigenous activists, there is very little public scrutiny of the clean-up process, which is managed by the Department of Energy and carried out by contractors with shoddy track records, like Bechtel. In the context of renewed support for atomic power as a means of combating climate change, Atomic Days provides a much-needed refutation of the myths of nuclear technology—from weapons to electricity—and shines a spotlight on the ravages of Hanford and its threat to communities, workers and the global environment. |
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