Habitat Loss, Three Gorges Dam

"China's Three Gorges hydroelectric dam complex on the Yangtze River, which was masterminded by former premier Li Peng and finished in May 2006, provides a stunning antithesis to the deterioration and even breaching of dams in other parts of the world. One historian has aptly called it a 'vestige of Soviet style central planning by specialists who disdain the opinions of affected citizens,' as it displaced hundreds of thousands of residents and submerged hundreds of towns, villages, ancient temples, tombs, and fortresses. The dam also threatened to channel toxic waste into the growing reservoir. The Three Gorges project is the latest example of developing nations' preference to embrace, rather than leapfrog over, the environmentally questionable infrastructural projects first developed in Europe and North America."