“I think we should approach [the dispute] from marine conservation because no government has the right to destroy the eco system, the endangered species, corals, sea turtles, tropical fish, and dolphins,” Wen Bo told InterAksyon.com at the sidelines of the Asia-Europe People’s Forum early July.
Wen, who helped start the Greenpeace office in Beijing and who is now with the Global Greengrants Fund, said: “Those species need protection regardless of who the territory belongs to, or who claims sovereignty of the islands or marine territory.”
“It’s wrong to build things that will destroy this eco system. This could be a good argument to stop continuous construction on these islands,” he added.
It is a goofy idea and shows complete separation from reality to seriously say it. It also shows how pathetic some parts of the Philippines are for a TV station and website to publish it as anything like a serious proposal.
China situation with coal and hydro shows that the marine conservation idea is just goofy because China cares very little for the environment as a matter of policy
China uses over 4 billion tons of coal every year.
Environmentalists claim large dams have led to the extinction of many fish and other aquatic species, the disappearance of birds in floodplains, huge losses of forest, wetland and farmland, erosion of coastal deltas, and many other unmitigable impacts.
China is the world’s leader in the construction of large dams.
In 2015, an estimated 33.7 GW of hydropower capacity was put into operation, including pumped storage, bringing the world’s total installed capacity to 1,212 GW.
China once again dominated the market for new development, adding 19.4 GW of new capacity within its borders.
China’s total installed hydropower capacity at the end of 2015 was an estimated 319,370 MW.
“Hydropower is one of the main ways for the power sector to replace fossil fuels, save energy and reduce emissions,” points out Zhang Boting, deputy secretary general of the China Society for Hydropower Engineering.
China is already the largest dam builder in the world, but its vast hydropower resources are underdeveloped compared with its potential, meaning the country is overwhelmingly reliant on coal, says Zhang. If China exploited its remaining hydropower resources it could meet a fifth of China’s peak energy demand and displace about 1.3 billion tonnes of coal, he adds.
The most enthusiastic advocates of new dams in China say the country can almost double its current hydropower capacity to 540 GW by 2050.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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