In 1913, a huge debate took place. This debate, fought by John Muir and Gifford Pinchot, was on whether the Hetch Hetchy Valley should be dammed or not. John Muir didn’t want the dam to be built, because it would bury and destroy places of beauty, recreation and worship, and overall ruin the Hetch Hetchy Valley, while Gifford Pinchot wanted the dam, because it would help the general population greatly, like providing water for the city of San Francisco, it would cause the construction of roads, trails, and telephone systems, and could be used in means of hydropower and other reusable sources of energy. Although building the dam would ruin the beauty of the valley, it would also provide water for the city of San Francisco, it would be of good …show more content…
The dam allows the many people of San Francisco a source of water, giving the most benefit to humans and therefore making it the greater good. In the introduction of Pinchot’s viewpoint, it says, “Pinchot defends his support of the proposed dam as part of his general philosophy favoring the utilization of America's natural resources for the greatest good of the people. Pinchot's testimony helped persuade Congress to pass a bill authorizing the Hetch Hetchy dam.” Pinchot also says that, “No other source of supply that is anything like so reasonably available as this one; if this is the best, and within reasonable limits of cost, the only means of supplying San Francisco with water.” The quote says that Pinchot believes that the dam utilizes “America’s natural resources” for the greater good of the population. which, in his ideology, is better than protecting the beauty of the valley. The water is “readily available”, meaning that if the dam were to be constructed, millions of people would be helped immediately. The water provides the greatest benefit for the most people, which is why the dam should be