Posted by
Jonathan on Monday, October 23, 2006 7:18:48 PM
A half-mile section of the famed Yellow River,
the second longest river in China, turned "red and smelly" today, the
result of an "unknown discharge" from a sewer pipe. The pollution
occurred in Lanzhou, a city of 2 million people. Many Chinese in and
around Lanzhou depend on the Yellow River for their drinking water.
Chinese authorities are testing the red gunk to see if it's toxic. Many
Chinese are understandably upset, especially in light of last year's
disaster, when an accident at a chemical plant dumped tons of
carcinogenic benzene into the 1,200-mile long Songhua River.
That incident virtually shut down the citry of Harbin for several days,
sparked an international incident with Russia and wreaked havoc with
the ecosystem.
All Communist governments have terrible environmental records. That's
no surprise, considering that such governments are largely
unaccountable to the people they allegedly represent. The prime
example, of course, is Russia, heir to 70 years of ruthless and
misguided attempts by the Soviet Union to industrialize its economy.
But the days when a dictator like Joseph Stalin could create a city
like Magnitogorsk and poison generations of captive workers is long gone.
In today's era of mass media, even the Chinese know they have to clean
up their act. After all, a diseased and weak citizenry is an
unproductive citizenry. More importantly, this is the kind of issue
that leads to revolts. Even the most illiterate peasant can understand that a government that can't provide clean water has got to go.