why do environmentalists not like dams?
in other words, why do these 3 want to blow one up? what's the reason for it?
btw i haven't seen the movie so don't spoil anything
they like to block anything which generates electricity and actually works.
Whilst still accepting electricity.
Yes, we like our electricity as much as anyone. But it needs to be generated via sustainable methods that don't ruin other people's livelihoods or wreck habitats. It's interesting that this movie was set in western Oregon, where most rivers flowing from the Cascade Mts. used to have salmon and/or steelhead runs. Dams have severely impacted all the anadromous fish and those who fished them. Add the fact that the federal government's treaties with Native Americans guarantee them the right to subsistence fish where dams have reduced or eliminated the salmon runs and there are legal issues to deal with as well.
One of director Kelly Reichardt's recurring themes is the unreliability of an authority figure. The person with the plan is often not the best one to follow. In this story idiots with immature needs to act out and no inclination to actually study the issues they spout off about cause a tragedy. What they do is not environmentalism and they are not environmentalists. There's not even any real indication that the dam they target is very problematic.
For those who'd like to actually inform themselves about the issue instead of just making glib and inaccurate remarks, check out YouTube. Search for the Elwa River dam removal videos. There are several documenting the removal of two old dams (a fascinating process and cool feat of engineering), the reasons for removing them, and also the successful - and ongoing - restoration of the river and its salmon runs. It's one example of the kind of dam that needs to be taken down.
From the International Rivers website on Dam Decommissioning:
"Between 1977 and 1982 the Army Corps of Engineers inspected 8,800 non-federal dams in the US, most of them privately-owned, which it classified as "high-hazard" - where a failure could cause significant loss of life. One-third of these dams were considered "unsafe," primarily because of inadequate spillway capacity. A 1994 survey showed at least 1,800 non-federal dams were still unsafe. The situation is similar for federal dams: in 1987 one-fifth of BuRec’s 275 dams were classified as unsafe, as were one-third of the 554 dams operated by the Corps of Engineers."