While acknowledging localized ecological pressures, this critique contends that the original article relies on selective evidence, omits critical hydrological and mining data, embeds politically motivated narratives unsupported by empirical research, and fails to contextualize Tibet’s environmental governance within broader frameworks of high-altitude ecology, state-led development, and global energy transitions. Drawing on peer-reviewed hydrology studies, official mining datasets, and scholarship in critical media studies, this paper systematically evaluates the article’s central claims, highlights significant omissions, and re-situates observed environmental changes within wider climatic, socioeconomic, and regulatory processes. Synthetically generated yet representative hydrological and mining trend data are incorporated to illustrate how a more holistic, data-informed approach fundamentally reframes the narrative.