The archaic Biblical tale of the Great Deluge teaches us something still relevant today, a lesson about the interconnectedness and universality of all life on earth, and the responsibility of Man to protect and defend the ecology of the entire planet. God did not allow Noah to “outsource” his relationship with the earth’s biosphere; God told Noah that he must be responsible for all life forms, and the entire Human race, throughout the earth. This duty began long before there were any national boundaries, and so it continues to transcend all national boundaries. While governments and corporations in the West are busy pretending to engage China as a supposed economic superpower, they might want to pause and think about whether their business ventures with that environmentally irresponsible regime are contributing to ecological disasters. The Canadian experience with the Three Gorges Dam project serves as a painful reminder of the dire consequences for those who compromise environmental responsibility in exchange for imminent gains.
Ian Johnson reveals in a recent Wall Street Journal article, how Canada ignored warnings of the international community against collaborating with China in the construction of the controversial Three Gorges Dam. Financial and engineering backings from the Canadians allowed some ambitious technocrats in the Chinese government to resurrect the highly unpopular project blocked by China’s Parliament in the 1989. The result has been devastating. Since its construction, the Dam has displaced an estimation of 1.4 million people, and the number has continued to escalate. It also threatens to become an environmental catastrophe with a price tag several times that of its original construction cost.
