From The
Idiot Factor:
I consider myself an environmentalist. I consider
nature to be important. I’m not against people making a living, a home or other
necessities. But we have to share this earth with other species of animals and
plants. People like to change nature to suit their needs. But by suiting our
needs, what about the natural theme of things? We damn streams and we expect
that to work just fine. We get hydro electric dams to provide us with
electricity. We have flood control. We have lakes that provide us with
recreation. But we alter nature and take away the processes that nature relies
on. Over the years there have been consequences to such dams. Just recently we
have had the failure of two man made dams in Michigan
“Around 10,000 people were forced to
evacuate their homes in central Michigan
The Edenville and
Sanford dams collapsed Tuesday night, threatening to drench the town of
Midland, Michigan under nine feet of water, Reuters reported.
The flooding comes as Michigan U.S.
"It's hard to believe that we're in the middle of a
100-year crisis, a global pandemic, and we're also dealing with a flooding
event that looks to be the worst in 500 years," Michigan Governor Gretchen
Whitmer said, as the New York Times reported.”
What people need to realize is that this has
happened before. According to Wikipedia:
“The Teton Dam was an earthen dam on
the Teton River in Idaho, United States
The collapse of the dam resulted in the deaths
of 11 people[4] and 13,000 cattle. The dam cost about
$100 million to build and the federal government paid over $300 million in
claims related to its failure. Total damage estimates have ranged up to $2
billion.[5] The dam has not been rebuilt.”
At the time, I made the case that humans had
ignored nature to produce something they thought would contribute to the
economy. It contributed to death and destruction. I remember as a young
teenager watching it on TV and seeing pictures in Time Magazine. I saw those
According to Wikipedia people
felt they needed the dam for a number of reasons. At the time, as an
environmentalist, I felt that people were being greedy in their use of natural
resources. Today, I believe I was right. This was a case of greedy people
getting what they deserved.
The planned dam iwas to
be an earthen structure 310 feet (94 m) high and 0.6 miles (1.0 km)
long and create a reservoir 17
miles (27 km) in length. The impounded water would be used to
generate hydroelectric power. An environmental impact statement was
issued for the dam in 1971, but it did not raise the possibility of a collapse.[3] Lack of funding and of
site prep work and questions surrounding the required environmental impact
statement stalled the project. Barely 14 pages long, the statement quickly drew
the ire of opponents of the project.[6]
When this dam went, I remember seeing pictures of
the bulldozers trying in vain to plug up the leaks in this dam. Again in Wikipedia:
“Crews with bulldozers were
sent to plug the leak, but were unsuccessful. Local media appeared
at the site and at 11:15 officials told the county sheriff's office to evacuate
downstream residents. Work crews were forced to flee on foot as the widening
gap, now larger than a swimming pool, swallowed their equipment. The operators
of two bulldozers caught in the eroding embankment were pulled to safety with
ropes.”
The dam swallowed up these tractors and it is if
nature was getting revenge for the obnoxious arrogance that humans show when
they are trying to control nature. We live in a world where people do what
brings them comfort and nature be damned. But in the case of these dams, I saw
little people trying in vain to control the uncontrollable. I hate to see
people lose their homes and/or lives. But there are consequences to trying to control
nature. And I delight in seeing nature win at times.
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