The False Promise of Hydroelectric Dams

In part two of a series on dams, reservoirs and catastrophic failures displace and destroy whole communities and ecosystems.

By David A. J. Reynolds | April 3, 2019 | Energy, Environment, Health | Arundhati Roy, Balbina Dam, Banqiao Dam, Bargi Dam, Big Bend Dam, Bureau of Reclamation, China, Collapse, Cost Overruns, Dams, Deltas, Destruction, Diminishing Returns, Displacement, Earthquakes, Economic Return, Estuaries, Failure Cascade, Flood Control Act, Floods, Fort Randall Dam, Garrison Dam, Geology, Ghana, Hydroelectric Power, Hydrology, India, Industry, Instability, International Rivers, Iroquois, Jabalpur, Kinzua Dam, Mark Twain, Methane, Mississippi River, Monteynard Dam, Native Americans, Oahe Dam, Oroville Dam, Pakistan, Power Generation, Reservoirs, Rivers, Sediment, Seneca, Settlements, Soviet Union, Stalin, The World Bank, Three Gorges Dam, Ukai Dam, US Army Corps of Engineers, Vajont Dam, Volga, Water

Voyage of the Dammed

Hydroelectric power is often thought of as “green” energy, but dams have devastated river ecology and the creatures it supports—including us.

By David A. J. Reynolds | February 13, 2019 | Energy, Environment, Health | Bonneville Dam, Canals, Civilization, Colorado River, Columbia River, Dams, Danube River, Deltas, Dneprostroi Dam, Dnieper River, Drinking Water, Ecology, Energy, Erosion, Estuaries, Extinction, Fish, Fish Ladders, Glen Canyon Dam, Grand Coulee Dam, Green Energy, Groundwater, Hatcheries, Heiddeger, Hoover Dam, Hydroelectric Power, Ian Nairn, Industry, International Rivers, Iron Gate Dam, Mills, Pollution, Reservoirs, Riverbank, Riverbed, Rivers, Salmon, Sediment, Snake River, Soviet Union, Sturgeon, Trees, Tributaries, Water, Water Table, Watershed

The Proud Luddite

The word Luddite has a long history as a derogatory term. But it has little to do with the real history of the Luddites, who seem more relevant than ever.

By Vittorio Bollo | November 8, 2017 | Automation, Economics, Employment, Ethics, Law, Philosophy, Society | Automation, Change, Destruction, Dignity, England, Garment Workers, Hanging, Industrial Revolution, Industry, Inequality, Jobs, Labor, Luddites, Machines, Manufacturing, Ned Ludd, Nottingham, Respect, Riots, Sabotage, Technoskepticism, Textiles, Work

From the Sublime to the Ridiculous, part two

European communist states were, perhaps, the ultimate manifestation of the modern conflation of technological development with progress. But with such [...]

By David A. J. Reynolds | November 9, 2016 | Culture, Economics, Philosophy, Religion, Society | Christianity, Communism, Distraction, Empire, Happiness, Heidegger, Industry, Knowledge, Materialism, Michael Sacasas, Narcissism, Progress, Russia, Science, Secularism, Soviet Union, Space Race, Stalin, Steel, Sublime, Technological Determinism, The Frailest Thing, Transcendence

From the Sublime to the Ridiculous, part one

It is exactly two hundred years ago that Byron, Percy Shelley, and his wife, Mary Shelley, were sequestered by a [...]

By David A. J. Reynolds | November 2, 2016 | Culture, Economics, Philosophy, Religion, Society | Christianity, Communism, Empire, Frankenstein, Genesis, God, Industry, Invention, Literature, Omnipotence, Poetry, Progress, Science, Secularism, Sublime, Transcendence, Walt Whitman

General Donations

Thank you for your support!

$ Donation Amount:

Select Payment Method

Credit Card
Offline Donation

Personal Info

First Name *

Last Name

Email Address *

Credit Card Info

This is a secure SSL encrypted payment.

Card Number *

CVC *

Cardholder Name *

Expiration *

Billing Details

Country *

Address 1 *

Address 2

City *

State *

Zip / Postal Code *

Donation Total: $30.00