China mudslides highlight cost of rapid economic growth focus 08/15/2010

China mudslides highlight cost of rapid economic growth

focus 08/15/2010 BEIJING — Mudslides devastating northwest China are a grim reminder of the high cost of the country’s breakneck economic growth — a development model experts say policymakers know must be changed. Activists have blamed the deadly landslides in Gansu province on years of unchecked development in the mountainous region as local governments cut down trees, built roads and developed hydroelectric dams in the name of growth. It is a scenario that has been played out across the country as authorities try to lift millions of people out of poverty and further their own careers by attracting investment and spurring growth — with scant regard to the local environment. “The tragedy in Zhouqu is a reflection of the challenges and risks economic growth brings to poor regions,” Li Yan, climate change and energy campaigner for Greenpeace China, told AFP..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100815com3.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Thrown to Basilan FRONTLINE Willing to throw out all focus China mudslides highlight cost of rapid economic growth BLURBAL THRUSTS Justice Del Castillo’s white knight C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Let go VIEWPOINTS Mother Earth TABLETS OF STONE ‘Let’s move on'