Too Little, Too Late Dept. - China Founds Group To Protect Yellow River From Pollution, Overuse

[hatrack]

ZHENGZHOU, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- China set up a foundation on Tuesday to protect the Yellow River, the country's second longest river, from over exploitation and pollution. The non-profit foundation, named China Yellow River Conservation Foundation, will promote protection programs, fund scientific researches and sponsor international cooperation on the protection of the river.

Organizations and individuals, that have made outstanding contributions to the protection of the Yellow River, will be rewarded by the foundation, according to the foundation's media office. Launched by the Yellow River Conservancy Commission (YRCC) of the Water Resources Ministry, the foundation is open to public donations, both domestic and overseas.

Stretching 5,464 kilometers from the northwest Tibetan plateau to the east coast, the Yellow River suffers the most serious soil erosion in the world, especially along its middle and upper reaches. The average amount of mud and sand washed into the river every year reaches 1.6 billion tons.

One third of the Yellow River system had been polluted, according to a bulletin issued by the YRCC last year. Industrial sector was blamed as the No.1 polluter, followed by living sewage contributed by urbanites living along the river system and the service trade.

EDIT

http://english.cctv.com/20091021/101343.shtml

[pscot]

1. You don't miss the water

'til the well runs dry.

[NNadir]

2. The Asian River system, including the Yangtze, Yellow, the Mekong, and the Ganges

is very troubled.

The situation in the Himilayas is not making it promising.

I am very frightened by this state of affairs. It boggles the imagination.

The Ganges is going to become like the Colorado, a river from which not a drop escapes to the sea, with the most down stream nation getting almost nothing or actually nothing, so that the delta dies.

Regrettably, the delta is an entire nation, with a population roughly half that of the entire United States.

If you've been to India, seen the scale of poverty there, and then muse that India is building a fence to keep the poor people, Bengali refugees out, you get a sense of what the deaths of these rivers actually means.

[XemaSab]

3. I'm going to set up a group to protect the WTC from terrorist attacks

You think I can get a federal grant? :shrug:

[AlecBGreen]

4. ugh

nothing like a little greenwashing. Why set up a non-profit when the government can fine/close the offending government-owned factories doing all the polluting?

[Nederland]

5. Cut them some slack

We did exactly the same thing. We polluted the hell out of the Cuyahoga River river and Lake Erie long before we setup any federal agencies to protect them. I'm just happy they are doing something.