We Are All Chinese

China is rapidly expanding its economic and environmental footprint on the planet. Chinese companies are exploring oil fields in Africa, drilling for gas in Burma, building dams in the Mekong region, and cutting down forests in Indonesia.

American Gothic by Grant Wood

On the latest count, China was building at least 79 large dams overseas. This dam-building spree has a major impact on the world’s rivers and watershed. A new report on Chinese dams in Cambodia shows that four of the six Chinese dams in this country will impact protected areas, including national parks.

In a comment in the San Francisco Chronicle, International Rivers policy director Peter Bosshard argues that we play a part in China’s global expansion. Seventy percent of the timber which China imports is re-exported in goods for the world market. China’s overseas dams are powering mines, oil installations and factories which produce our computers, toys and t-shirts. We have outsourced much of our dirty work to China and other parts of the world. The comment is also avilable in Chinese and Spanish.

On February 13, 2008, Peter Bosshard discussed China’s global environmental footprint, and our role in it, at a public event at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. Listen to a podcast of his presentation.