Lowbagger.org     

        "A voice in the cyberspace wilderness."                                              February 2005      

Major Free-Flowing River Faces Dams

By Bryce Smedley
  One of the dam sites on the Salween.

Once again nations in Southeast Asia are suffering from their bulging economic bellies and looking for new ways to produce energy. There is a high demand for new energy, especially when its biggest export client is the U.S. A country that, by the way, doesn’t mind having the largest trade deficit the world has ever seen.

Meanwhile Southeast Asia is posturing to develop its economy with inter-regional, free-trade agreements. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) made the dream possible in November, when nations blindly signed on to regional “Free Trade”.

This was only after they agreed not to talk about Burma’s human rights violations. And, after Thailand threatened to walk out, instead of explain the death of 85 Thai Muslims suffocated or drowned in the custody of Thai soldiers in October.

One of the consequences of this rampant free trade will be the construction of multiple dams (funded by Korea, Australia, Japan, and the U.S.) on the Salween River, South East Asia’s longest free flowing river. The Salween River begins its journey at an elevation of 12,000 feet, on the Tibetan Plateau in the Himalayas. It travels 2,800 kilometers through China, Thailand and Burma before dumping into the Andaman Sea.

UNSECO has designated parts of the river in the Yunnan Province of China as a World Heritage Site,and dubbed it one of the richest temperate regions for biodiversity in the world. Abundant with wildlife, ecologists have identified the Salween River basin in Thailand and Burma as a teak-wood haven. In Burma, the river also passes through tribal lands. Karen and Shan States are currently fighting for autonomy in Burma and have resisted the military junta’s rule. 

The construction of the dams on the Salween will only expedite the deforestation of the area. You can also expect a taming of the last remaining ethnic, hill-tribe peoples along the river, diminishing any hopes for indigenous people to manage the land.

Globalization is upon us but does not need to control us! Though the issues are many, let’s keep them all on the table, and remind our leaders that there are more crucial issues that need to be addressed than terrorism. For more information please contact www.salweennews.org, keep our rivers free!   
Lowbagger Home
Features
Grizzly Futures: The Bear vs. the Bush Administration
By Louisa Willcox
Season of the Buffalo
By Dan Brister
A Healthy-Sized Harvest
By Matt Koehler
Wilderness Study Area Assault
By Larry Campbell
Departments
Publisher's Notebook
Satan is My Co-Pilot
By Mike Roselle
Editor's Corner
What is Lowbagger.org? What is a lowbagger?
By Josh Mahan
On the Ground
Plutonium Wind Threatens Tetons
By Mary Woolen-Mitchell
Green Politics
Conservation and the Political Imperative
By Howie Wolke
National Affairs
No Friend of Mine
By Marilyn Olsen
Planet Watch
Major Free-Flowing River Faces Dams
By Bryce Smedley
School Zone
Short, Aggressive Manifesto on Education
By Shane Sanchez
Readings
Morning Light
Shorts and Ecology
By Tim Sandlin
Floogle Watch
The $11 Martini
By Uncle Ramon
Poet's Lounge
His Likable Ways, and Shock and Awe
By Greg Keeler
Mean Streets
By Phil Knight
Love is a Glove
By Derek Cook
Mountain Step
How to Lowbag a Peak
By John Fothergill
Conversations
At the Barbershop
By Peter Crumbaker
Fiction Focus
Coyote Goes Snowboarding
By Phil Knight