Green Issues

Hey Citizens of the Green World!

Last week, I was discussing with some students of mine about "Green Issues", how green they think they are and stuff we could all do to be a little bit greener. There were many "confessions", for example, most of us still use plastic bags when we go shopping... Sorry, planet! It's on my resolution list 2011 to quit using plastic bags!

Well, anyway, I think the most insteresting and controversial topic about this is the construction of the Complexo Hidrelétrico do Madeira, a.k.a. the Belo Monte dam. It's a gigantic project and it will also affect Bolivia and its inhabitants who depend on those rivers to survive.

I became familiar with this documentary because a student of mine is a Forest Engineer and she brought it to class for discussion. I was immediately shocked, principally because it's not in the media... Hm... I wonder why!

You can check the video: http://www.amazonia.org.br/noticias/noticia.cfm?id=345936

Here's a summary of it:

The Madeira River Complex

The enormous Madeira River Complex, in the tri-border region of Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil is one of the Integrated Regional Infrastructure for South America's (IIRSA) anchor projects. It would transform the Madre de Dios-Beni-Mamoré-Itenez-Madeira river system into a major corridor for energy production and raw material export. The proposal includes the construction of four hydroelectric dams, most importantly the Santo Antônio and Jirau dams in Rondônia, Brazil. Together, these two dams would produce a projected 6,450 megawatts of hydroelectricity, totaling eight percent of the Brazilian energy matrix. By comparison, this is equal to half of the electricity produced by Itaipu dam in the Brazilian state of Paraná, the world’s largest hydroelectric power plant.

The Madeira project would also increase the capacity for transporting soybean, timber, and minerals to Pacific ports through the installation of navigation locks and dredging to open the river channel, and to connect with highways being built in the Peruvian and Bolivian Amazon. The project would result in a potential 500 percent growth of soybean transport from the current annual seven million tons to 35 million tons exported.¹ Brazilian agribusiness companies such as Grupo André Maggi, the largest soybean producer in the world, have already helped build the Itacoatiara port downstream from Manaus, which is a major distribution center for soy export. The company received a loan from the International Finance Corporation, of the World Bank, in 2004 of US$30 million to expand soybean production, which is arguably the leading cause of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.

The Madeira Complex may also turn into an investor's nightmare, due to the enormous cost and technical challenges. Potential environmental and social impacts – including displacement, threats to food security, increased exposure to disease, pressure on already weak social services, risks to biodiversity, and deforestation leading to greenhouse gas emissions – make the Madeira Complex a "development" disaster in the making.

source: www.amazonwatch.org

James Cameron (the director of Titanic and Avatar) came to Brazil last March and he's joined this organization called Amazon Watch.

http://www.amazonwatch.org/

Well, watch these videos, practice your listening, and be shocked...