The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenge to China's Future.

• Author: Boyd, John Conway
• Position: FURTHER READING - Book review

THE RIVER RUNS BLACK: THE ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGE TO CHINA'S FUTURE

Elizabeth C. Economy

(Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2005), 368 pages.

In The River Runs Black, author Elizabeth C. Economy examines the environmental degradation resulting from China's massive economic growth over the past thirty years. Economy opens by detailing the negative effects of China's economic growth, namely polluted rivers, desertification, flood, water scarcity, dwindling forest resources and population growth. The rest of the first half of the book is dedicated to a discussion of historical and current perspectives of China's perception of the environment, perspectives that prioritize economic growth to the detriment of the environment. The remainder of the book investigates the political and physical barriers that impede environmental sustainability. The book closes by speculating about China's future in the face of relentless environmental neglect.

Economy makes her strongest case for greater environmental regulation in China in Chapters 1 and 6, "The Death of the Huai" and "The Devil at the Doorstep." In these chapters, Economy discusses the increasing social unrest, particularly in China's...