Persuasive Essay ~ Why the Three Gorges Dam in China Should Not Be Built.
Dear Ambassador Yang Jiechi,
I strongly think that you would not benefit from the construction of the Three Gorges Dam. I think this for three reasons. If the dam breaks, your people will be in unimaginable danger, you will suffer food shortages, and historical sites will be lost. The reasons not to build the dam far outweigh the reasons to build it. I hope you will listen to what I have to say.
One reason why the dam shouldn't be built is that if it breaks, the effects will be devastating. People for miles will be killed. Houses and buildings will be torn apart. Entire towns will be destroyed. Anything beyond the dam will receive the full impact of the dam break. Journalist Dai Qing calls the dam "the most environmentally and socially destructive project in the world." So what if it has the power of 15 nuclear plants. If the dam breaks there won't be anyone around to use the power. Also, the dam could be the site of a potential terrorist attack. It would be so easy to kill all of those people. The natural reaction to this threat would be to make the dam bigger and better, but you can't do that. It would hold even more power behind it and if terrorist do manage to knock the dam down, it would kill more people, destroy more towns and add to the cost of repairs and the cost of building the dam in the first place. Also, the debris of the dam would be bigger and more dangerous, and many other problems will come up if you build this dam. "The project's conception was monumental," says Dr. John Byrne. "This was seen in the early years [of the project] as a way to show the advanced nature of Chinese society under socialism, to solve a problem that has existed in China for thousands of years... But when you're doing something on this scale, you should really make solving the problems your first priority. Unfortunately, China has decided to launch the project -- then solve the problems along the way."
Another reason why the Three Gorges Dam shouldn't be built, if the
I strongly think that you would not benefit from the construction of the Three Gorges Dam. I think this for three reasons. If the dam breaks, your people will be in unimaginable danger, you will suffer food shortages, and historical sites will be lost. The reasons not to build the dam far outweigh the reasons to build it. I hope you will listen to what I have to say.
One reason why the dam shouldn't be built is that if it breaks, the effects will be devastating. People for miles will be killed. Houses and buildings will be torn apart. Entire towns will be destroyed. Anything beyond the dam will receive the full impact of the dam break. Journalist Dai Qing calls the dam "the most environmentally and socially destructive project in the world." So what if it has the power of 15 nuclear plants. If the dam breaks there won't be anyone around to use the power. Also, the dam could be the site of a potential terrorist attack. It would be so easy to kill all of those people. The natural reaction to this threat would be to make the dam bigger and better, but you can't do that. It would hold even more power behind it and if terrorist do manage to knock the dam down, it would kill more people, destroy more towns and add to the cost of repairs and the cost of building the dam in the first place. Also, the debris of the dam would be bigger and more dangerous, and many other problems will come up if you build this dam. "The project's conception was monumental," says Dr. John Byrne. "This was seen in the early years [of the project] as a way to show the advanced nature of Chinese society under socialism, to solve a problem that has existed in China for thousands of years... But when you're doing something on this scale, you should really make solving the problems your first priority. Unfortunately, China has decided to launch the project -- then solve the problems along the way."
Another reason why the Three Gorges Dam shouldn't be built, if the