Choke Point: China -- Confronting Water Scarcity and Energy Demand in the World's Fastest Growing Industrial Economy

New report explores escalating confrontation over resources with global implications

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Rapid economic growth, water scarcity, and soaring energy demand are forming a tightening noose that could choke off China's modernization, according to a new report by Circle of Blue and the Woodrow Wilson Center's China Environment Forum (CEF) that began online publication this week.

The 12-part series, Choke Point: China presents powerful evidence of a potentially ruinous confrontation between water and energy that is already visible and will grow more dire over the next decade. Choke Point: China, though, is not necessarily a story of doom.

Circle of Blue and CEF found a powerful two-part narrative in China: First is how effectively the national and provincial governments enacted and enforced a range of water conservation and efficiency measures that enabled China to progress as far as it has.

Second is that despite the extensive efforts to conserve water, and to develop water-sipping alternatives like wind and solar energy, China still faces an enormous projected shortfall of water this decade to its energy-rich northern and western provinces. How government and industry leaders respond to this critical and unyielding choke point forms the central story line of the next era of China's unfolding development.

The first story of the 12-part series is available online here, where you can also read the following 11 parts as they are released.

About the China Environment Forum: Since 1997, the China Environment Forum has been active in creating programming and publications to encourage dialogue among U.S. and Chinese scholars, policymakers, businesses, and nongovernmental organizations on environmental and energy challenges in China.

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars is the national, living memorial honoring President Woodrow Wilson.  In providing an essential link between the worlds of ideas and public policy, the Center addresses current and emerging challenges confronting the United States and the world.  The Center promotes policy-relevant research and dialogue to increase understanding and enhance the capabilities and knowledge of leaders, citizens, and institutions worldwide.  Created by an Act of Congress in 1968, the Center is a non-partisan institution headquartered in Washington, D.C. and supported by both public and private funds.

SOURCE Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars