dams

Alarming ‘Salmon Extinction Act’ Passes in U.S. House

Alarming ‘Salmon Extinction Act’ Passes in U.S. House

A small group led by Republicans in Congress spearheaded a bill that passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday. If the bill becomes law, it could lead to the eventual extinction of wild salmon in the Columbia and Snake rivers—iconic species in the Pacific Northwest that the federal government is required by law […]

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    Large Dams Fail on Climate Change and Indigenous Rights

    Large Dams Fail on Climate Change and Indigenous Rights

    Brazil has flooded large swaths of the Amazon for hydro dams, despite opposition from Indigenous Peoples, environmentalists and others. The country gets 70 percent of its electricity from hydropower. Brazil’s government had plans to expand development, opening half the Amazon basin to hydro. But a surprising announcement could halt that. In an interview with O […]

    Patagonia’s Puelo and Cuervo Rivers Win Crucial Protections in Supreme Court of Chile

    Patagonia’s Puelo and Cuervo Rivers Win Crucial Protections in Supreme Court of Chile

    By James Blair Local residents and environmentalists in Chile are enjoying a prolonged New Year’s celebration, thanks to two major legal decisions that will protect the country’s free-flowing rivers. Chile’s justice system put a final stop to two controversial large hydroelectric dam developments in Chilean Patagonia: 1) Mediterráneo S.A.’s run-of-the-river project proposed on tributaries of […]

    Will Tanzania Save the Great Ruaha River?

    Will Tanzania Save the Great Ruaha River?

    By Brennan PetersonWood and Adam C. Stein The Great Ruaha River in southern Tanzania is the lifeblood of Ruaha National Park, one of the last strongholds of major elephant and lion populations in Africa. Flowing through Ruaha National Park before emptying into the Rufuji River, the Great Ruaha and associated river systems also provide a […]

    115 New Species Discovered in Greater Mekong

    115 New Species Discovered in Greater Mekong

    Not every newly-discovered species becomes a cartoon character. But the Vietnamese crocodile lizard (Shinisaurus crocodilurus vietnamensis) has achieved such fame as “Shini,” a lizard who teaches the importance of protecting his species to local schoolchildren. The lizard is just one of 115 species—including a snail-eating turtle and a horseshoe bat—discovered in the Greater Mekong region […]

    Colorado Water Plan Has Become ‘Colorado Dam Plan’

    Colorado Water Plan Has Become ‘Colorado Dam Plan’

    You’d have thought the earth moved exactly two years ago with all the ballyhoo at the State Capitol when Gov. John Hickenlooper unveiled the final Colorado Water Plan. I stood in the west foyer of the Capitol as every TV camera in the city pointed at Hickenlooper and his then-Colorado Water Conservation Board director, James […]

    Balkan Dams Pose Major Threat to Protected Species

    Balkan Dams Pose Major Threat to Protected Species

    Construction sites for hydroelectric dams are popping up all over southeast Europe and endangering mountain rivers and the region’s unique biodiversity, according to researchers. More than 2,700 hydropower plants are in the planning phase across the Balkans, with 37 percent of dams slated to be built on land with “high protection status,” according to Save […]

    Where Have All the Salmon Gone?

    Where Have All the Salmon Gone?

    By Heather Smith To get to the largest surviving population of wild Spring Chinook salmon on the Klamath River, I drive farther north than I’ve ever been in California, then turn right. Gradually, the highways disappear, and the roads narrow. Commerce becomes more improvisational. Grocery stores and restaurants disappear and in their place there is […]

    Shocking New Investigation Links Berta Cáceres’s Assassination to Executives at Honduran Dam Company

    Shocking New Investigation Links Berta Cáceres’s Assassination to Executives at Honduran Dam Company

    We look at shocking revelations released Tuesday that link the assassination of renowned Honduran indigenous environmental leader Berta Cáceres to the highest levels of the company whose hydroelectric dam project she and her indigenous Lenca community were protesting. We speak with New York Times reporter Elisabeth Malkin, who has read the new report by a […]