Society has come a long way from what it once was. Throughout the years people have built many structures from housing to machinery to creating infrastructures that help shelter and power entire nations. As these structures were built so has the consumption of energy and with the rise of the populace and the demand of energy there runs a great deal of problems.With such a demand for energy there comes a question of where to obtain the energy and how will it affect humans? With such a question the rise in Political environment comes into action mediating and educating both other politicians and civilians in what the cause and effect of such actions have on both the planet and the species residing in it . An example of this is dams, Dams are …show more content…
The tragedy of the commons is a political and economic issue that theorizes the greed of one's actions that negatively impacts others when dealing with finite resources. In this case the earth and its resources are finite and by putting up numerous dams even though they have a numerous amount of flaws with what pros it has creates issues and tensions that run deep. In the film “Dam Nation” the producers go into detail on the run down of dams and how they have impacted the United States as a whole, as well as looking more into detail with its people from politicians to the first nations. Dams represent a tragedy of commons due to its impact on the state and its effects on the political scale , the market with its economic shifts and job market , and the community and how they handle all the brunt and consequences of the other two playing a huge …show more content…
Before even going into constructions politicians and the state would debate and assess the best procedures to benefit and maximize efficiency of power. Although there comes a catch, while in the midst of debating the government's only interest is furthering power supply demanding multiple dams be built that not only raises the cost but have huge detriments to the environment that cause significant damage. In the movie “Dam Nation” the producers explain on how the government issues such controls but in a negative light, for example when they kayak from different dams they are stopped by government officials to turn back and even warning them that what they are doing is a federal offense and as far to assume what they are doing is considered espionage. Dams can be seen a tragedy of commons due to its connection with the state and its problems that correlate to the structure. As seen already with the rise of cost it also lacks a proper scale of institution with the numerous amounts of dams being placed with no regard of the consequences. As a result not only does the state suffer even though it has created more ways to harness energy for the nation but it also takes a drastic hit when dealing with the market and its economical
Silenced Rivers: The Ecology and Politics of Large Dams author Patrick McCully (2001) reports that dams store water for river fluctuations as well as for energy and water demands (p. 11).
The negative aspects of Glen Canyon Dam greatly exceed the positive aspects. The dam’s hydroelectric power supply is only three percent of the total power used by the six states that are served by the facility. There is a surplus of power on the Colorado Plateau and with more and more power-plants being created in the western hemisphere, Glen Canyon Dam’s power is not needed (Living Rivers: What about the hydroelectric loss). Although the ‘lake’ contains twenty seven million acre feet of water, one and a half million acre feet of water are lost yearly due to evaporation and seepage into the sandstone banks surrounding the ‘lake’ (Living Rivers: What about the water supply?). The loss of that much “water represents millions, even billions of dollars” (Farmer 183). If the government were to employ more water efficient irrigation practices, as much as five million acre feet of water per year could be saved.
A large issue we have that effects multiple different areas of our communities, are tragedy of the commons, which are actions that are rational but lead to irrational outcome. Government needs to take responsilbities to enforce rules for commons so they can diminish tragedy of the commons. Dams are a tragedy of the commons that only recently were come to the realisation of its more negatives effect they have on our world. Dams used to be seen as only positive, for their productful factors such as hydroelectricity and water supply. In this essay, I will argue that dams are an example of a tragedy of the commons proven by the documentary, Damnation, by the directors Travis Rummel and Ben Knight by describing that dams are highly subtractable
...ouse also. In Indonesia, corruption is widely present. The organization may request a sum of money from the government to solve the flooding issue, although, the leaders of the IFPP could possibly choose to pocket the money for their own use, instead of properly solving the flood issue in Solo. Due to corruption, the money remaining wouldn’t be able to be suffice for the construction, therefore they have to minimize the use of resources which could lead into a weaker dam, or they have to build a smaller dam which couldn’t decrease the flood levels as much. Although problems like corruption is there, the dam system would be an effective method because the flood levels are getting controlled, and the hydrological power would be able to be supplied to the people, therefore slowly covering their costs, and resulting into a highly effective method for the people of Solo.
Over the years Glen Canyon Dam has been the spark for hundreds of debates, rallies, and protests. These debates have been going on for almost forty years now. The fact is that the dam created a huge lake when it was built, this is what bothers environmentalists. This lake is called Lake Powell and thousands of people depend on its tourists for income. The lake also filled up a canyon called Glen Canyon, some people say it was the most beautiful place on earth. The anti-dam side of the debate has its basis in the fact that Lake Powell is currently covering Glen Canyon. It was very remote so few people got to witness its splendor. This is probably the reason the dam was built in the first place, ignorance.
Green turns to grey, wood turns to metal, and the sounds of cranes turn to those of their metal counterparts. The commercial boom of our era seems to continue even as the warnings around us paint an unpleasant future for our planet’s resources. The once clean atmosphere is now filled with waste from hundreds of years worth of greenhouse gas emissions from the industrial plants that plague our society. The regional blackouts that have occurred around us is a reminder that the flow of electricity and energy we normally take for granted may not be so bountiful anymore. The Colorado River once considered the mightiest
To ground this discussion one case that I will be referring to is a planned hydro-electric project in Chile. The proposed five dams are to be located in the Aysen region of Chile in sout...
In our world there are many resources, all of which people do not have a choice in sharing such as our air and our oceans. These resources are looked at as infinite, although this is not actually the case. Each time one person does something to pollute or use these types of resources, it affects the whole of society. This is the idea of the tragedy of the commons. This tragedy is the phenomena in which a resource may be used to such an extent that it is ruined for all. An example of this tragedy is given in the following scenario: given an open pasture as a commons to which all the herdsmen have a stake; each one will try and keep as many animals on the commons as possible. By adding one more animal to his herd, an individual gains a positive to himself but the negative effect of over grazing is felt throughout the commons. The effect, of overgrazing by one additional animal appears minimal so the other rational herdsmen conclude to add an additional animal to their own herd. Since all the herdsmen are thought to be rational this conclusion is reached by each of them. The effect of, overgrazing will become detrimental to the pasture and all the animals will die. There in is the tragedy because of peoples’ greed to use and or need of a limited resource the over use or degradation of it leads to its destruction. The destruction of these resources leads into another topic discussed by Shari C...
Showing that the Bureau only truly cared about the popularity and attractions of dam development, they just built dams to build dams and created cash register dams to fund even more projects that weren't even needed. “Congress without water projects
Director Owen Lammers calls it one of the "largest and most environmentally and socially destructive projects on Earth"(Maier, 1997). One of China’s oldest dreams is becoming its newest reality. Since 1914 the idea has arisen of damming the Yangtze River. China plans to do this with a 600-foot, cement wall which will take eleven years to complete and costs could rise to over 75 billion dollars. The dam is claimed to have many advantages for China and the Chinese. Three Gorges is expected to produce around one-tenth of the nation’s energy, without the use of coal, improving air quality. Also, the natural floods that occur with the Yangtze river will be stopped, supposedly saving thousands of lives in the future. The first thing needed to keep the project going is money, and many United States senators see this as a great opportunity for jobs, but it is also viewed as a good investment. Fortunately, the U.S. Export-Import Bank, (for the first time), "…denied financing solely on environmental grounds"(Giaccia, 1997). These advantages are easily outweighed by the disadvantages of this proposal; this monument threatens the environment, but construction will ensue.
In the beginning of the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, there were several problems. There were several protestors and opinions about the dam before the Three Gorges Dam project was even started.1 China has had history of several dam failures in the mid-1970s that were responsible for thousands of deaths. The three gorges (Xiling, Wu, and Qutang) have scenery that is a tourist attraction.2 The dam was going to be a little over 600 feet tall, 7500 feet wide, and hold over 97 trillion gallons of water. Because of all of the population increase, China started using coal power plants1 and shipping, which causes acid rain over the region making the Yangtze River is one of the most polluted rivers in the world.4 It does not help that the Yangtze River runs right through Chinas industrial heartland. Using the river to transport their goods to other parts or China adds to the pollution.2 Pollution from mines, hospitals, and garbage dumping is another big problem for the river because the pollution is building up around the dam.1 With the Three Gorges Dam will come landslides because of the rising water tables and the large slopes with unstable soil from local farming causing more sediment being added to the river.3 And because the dam lies on a fault line there will also be an escalation of earthquakes. There is a huge decrease in sediment discharge; which caused a 90% sediment load into thousands of other reservoirs. Before the dam was operational, it was retaining water and sediments.4 The water levels were rising faster than anyone expected, therefore, the finish date had to be moved up.1 Scientists even projected that 70% of sediment discharge would be trapped for the first two decades and 44% would be store...
The use of turbines from dams to provide power was a brilliant idea until water levels started running lower than normal. The water waste from humanity is directly contributing to portions of it, aside from drought conditions affected by pollution, widespread fires battled, and more adds to the depletion thereof. When humanity is relying on power provided from dams to handle the demand, they are essentially relying on the assumption that water levels will always be there to provide it. The Hoover Dam provides power to the southwestern portion of the USA that has a large number of people.
In August 2016, Derrick Jensen published an article about, “Top 10 Ways to Destroy All the Water on Earth” at Fair Observer. The purpose of the article is to inform people that building new dams on the oceans, dewatering of great rivers and aquifers, toxification of groundwaters, disposal of plastics and overfishing is adversely affecting the nature and its resources; as well as livestock and human beings. Jensen argues about overuse and misuse of water in sarcastic way with so many statistics. It explains how this is affecting the future resources of water and environment. The article informs people how human being
IYER, R.I. (19X9) "Large Dams: The Right Perspective.' Economic and Political Weekly, 14, 107- 116.
Many people have already dammed a small stream using sticks and mud by the time they become adults. Humans have used dams since early civilization, because four-thousand years ago they became aware that floods and droughts affected their well-being and so they began to build dams to protect themselves from these effects.1 The basic principles of dams still apply today as they did before; a dam must prevent water from being passed. Since then, people have been continuing to build and perfect these structures, not knowing the full intensity of their side effects. The hindering effects of dams on humans and their environment heavily outweigh the beneficial ones.