MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Chilean controversial Patagonia mega-dam project to be appealed at Supreme Court
A Chilean appeals court in Puerto Montt voted 3 to 1 to reject seven lawsuits brought against the proposed controversial HidroAysén hydroelectric mega-dam approved by the Chilean government on May 9 of this year. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesI think that this region of Chile should:
Oct 09th, 2011 - 01:52 pm - Link - Report abuse 0revert to the Dark Ages,
turn its back on electricity,
close down the coal mines in the region (”the right to live in a pollution-free environment.”), and
follow the path of Ecuador - refusing the development of roads in favour of country paths.
Perhaps more:
It could become a separate country,
a little bit of the pre-human world, if all people were also removed.
Then we could all go on trekking holidays there, using donkeys as necessary.
We would be observers of the world as it was before the Ice Age; people would pay big bucks to be extras in the real life version of Pre-Era do Gelo 4.
A real-life Disneyland of Dreams.
Hell, we could even introduce some dinosaurs!
Or we could recognise that ALL the people of Chile need electricity or the benefits of the use of electricity.
It costs REAL money to hand out Free Compulsory Education to everybody
You can't spend it if you can't earn it.
Let's don't mix things, Geoff... The region we are talking about (South Chile, XI and XII Region = 233 million km2) is the size of the UK , but there are less than 250k people living all over there (like the city of Swansea).
Oct 10th, 2011 - 03:32 pm - Link - Report abuse 0So it's very sure, that the project does not have the intention to provide the local population with electricity, nor does the relation “benefit/adversity” stand in a healthy balance.
The local ones surely have their requirements fullfilled (been there).
So it's about providing electricity to OUR central region, with electric lines which will be build over thousands of km...
The region we are talking about is a world heritage in regarding to nature, I guess you have not been there to understand, what it would mean to interfere in these dimensions in an almost untouched enviroment.
If we centralists do require more energy, we should find a solution ourselves in our region. We don't wanna be a Mexico City, a monster who soaks the “life juice” of the whole country to sustain itself...
Hi, Man.
Oct 10th, 2011 - 10:25 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Yes, a bit of parody, but I am totally aware of all you say.
I know that the electricity AND the coal will be transported north; and I know there is a solar energy programme in the central region itself. I wish ALL non-polluting energy programmes a long life. I know some are 'worse' than others, and the downside of polluting energy use can be global warming, extreme weathers and fundimental societal change; whilst clean energy can change to river-flows, and besmirch the visual environment with lakes, windmills and solar panels.
My key point is that a whole country is a whole country, and some bits will be better for energy than others, other bits will be better for fish, and yet other bits will be better for copper ore. Each bit must play its part in the interests of ALL the people of Chile.
And my central conclusion remains:
It costs REAL money to hand out Free Compulsory Education to everybody.
You can't spend it if you can't earn it.
Solar force would be one example... we have vast regions of desert in the north which could be used for that. Or offshore wind energy, do we lack sea to do that? Of course not... but this is because at the moment these type of energies are more expensive, so they are not attractive to local energy providers like Colbun and foreign ones like Endesa, which does not mean the clean energies would not create profits, but smaller ones. The government has to make these energies more attractive, like for example setting specially expensive licenses for pollution (like it happens in europe) on coal electricity . Just one example...
Oct 11th, 2011 - 12:33 am - Link - Report abuse 0About spending more than you have... you don't need to convince ME about that! Did I ever make the impression to be a fan of keynes or socialistic states? I am very aware of the desastrous results that happen, if a state chronically spends more than it retrieves, your continent is a blooming example for this, no matter where you look at! But Chile does have regularily some budget surplus, and I personally think that the educational budget (which has been increased to 12 billion USD, double the budget Argentina had 2010) is not the real issue, but the costly system installed. There is something really gone wrong, that even with such a high budget, students have to pay such high fees for completing their studies.
I am enjoying this discussion, Man.
Oct 11th, 2011 - 12:19 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I hoped to stimulate a serious debate with my little tease at #1, but I expected Sergio to join us (but perhaps you ARE Sergio!).
Your comments @ #4 are spot on.
Yes, something is very wrong with the education policy and its translation into practice.
Why? I don´t know.
But I do know that the reaction phase - street violence - has run its course, and the state can not allow itself to be overturned over the issue (Revolution).
The hard-ball discussions have happened, opinions have been heard, and the state subsequently structures the changes necessary.
This is the STATE´S JOB, and cannot be given over to the students or the unions. This would be true of any political shade of governance.
The next phase is to support Democracy itself, demand return to the democratic process, and then work within it to make these education changes happen.
This may need a change at the top, but it would be disasterous for Chile to revert to being another experiment in Bolivarian politics.
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