An Environmental Commission in Chile has given the go-ahead to a massive dam project in Patagonia – one of the wildest, undisturbed places left on our planet.
Polls show that over 74% of the Chilean population opposes the $3.2-billion HidroAysen project, which calls for construction of five dams on the Baker and Pascua rivers.
20,000-30,000 people marched in Chile last week in protest because it would destroy the region’s biodiversity to benefit mining corporations to the north. It would partially flood a national park and a neighboring region that citizens hoped would be named a Unesco World Heritage Site.
Apparel company Patagonia Inc., known for its long standing sustainable business practices, staged a 500-employee protest in Ventura, California to support Chileans. The company is named after the region and has contributed millions of dollars to protect it.
"This is like building Hoover Dam at the entrance to Yosemite Valley," says Rick Ridgeway, Patagonia vice president of environmental affairs. "This is not about a North American corporation trying to tell Chile what to do – it’s about asking Chile’s democratically elected government to listen to the majority of its own people when they say there has to be a better way."
Chile’s two largest energy firms would build the 2.75 MW project, which would increase Chile’s energy supply by 15% when it comes online in 2020.
The next step is approval of a $3.8 billion, 1600 mile transmission line, that would carry the power north to mining companies in Santiago. The transmission line would be connected by 200 foot high towers on a swath of land a half mile wide and 1000 miles long. The forest would have to be clearcut for the line – the longest clearcut in the world.
The government backs the project to encourage economic development and reduce the country’s reliance of foreign oil.
Chile imports 75% of its gasoline and diesel.
Studies have shown it could generate the same amount of electricity through its extroardinary solar, wind and geothermal resources.
The environmental commission based its decision on immediate construction impacts and did not analyze long term ecological impacts.
Dozens of public organizations and thousands of individuals have pointed out weaknesses in the commission’s study: it lacks crucial information, ignores important issues, uses incomplete data, misrepresents facts and contains poor analyses.
A similar project propsed for Brazil’s Amazon has received more international attention. Tthe Belo Monte power project on the Xingu River would produce four times the energy.
China’s Three Gorge Dam Problematic
China’s Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydroelectric project in the world, is running into problems, according to a NY Times article.
Technicians have been verifying the last stage of construction of the 19-year effort, which has been completed "in defiance of domestic and international concerns over its safety as well as threats to the environment, displaced people, historical areas and natural beauty." The 600 foot tall dam on the Yangtze River was completed in 2006.
The $23 billion project, which outside experts say may have actually cost twice that, is plagued by floating garbage, carpets of algae and landslides.
Critics say the government has fallen far short of its goals to resettle the displaced 1.4 million people and the sheer weight of the water behind the dam has increased the danger of landslides and earthquakes.
While the government acknowledges the risk, it denies any connection to the powerful May 2008 earthquake in Sichuan Province, where at least 87,000 people died.
China’s State Council said, "Although the Three Gorges project provides huge comprehensive benefits, urgent problems must be resolved regarding the smooth relocation of residents, ecological protection and geological disaster prevention."
Critics also say the dam has changed regional water tables, contributing to water shortages. Even the dam’s ability to regulate the notoriously changeable flow of the 3,900-mile-long Yangtze has been called into question. There has been a historic drought this spring, leaving about 400,000 people without access to drinking water.
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