Construction of Amazon Hydroelectric Plant Draws Protest

Matt McKeon-Slattery

Matt McKeon-Slattery earned a B.A. from Hunter College where he majored in political science and media studies. Prior to that, he studied engineering at Cooper Union, where he ran the student newspaper as its editor-in-chief. He is currently studying part-time at NYU in pursuit of a Master of Urban Planning degree. He has been an assistant editor at AIChE’s Chemical Engineering Progress.

Some 300 indigenous Brazilians have taken over a hydroelectric plant to protest its construction near an ancient burial ground on the Aripuana river, approximately 400 km north of Mato Grosso in the Amazon.

Map locator of Brazil's Mato Grosso state
Image via Wikipedia
The plant is only in its first phase, with operations not expected to begin until January 2011. Armed with bows and arrows, the protestors held hostage 100 workers who were at the plant Sunday (July 25), refusing to let them leave until Monday (July 26), when they were exchanged for company officials. Other demands include access to government officials and monetary compensation. There have been no reports of any workers being harmed. "This site is 30 km from our reserve and has caused great cultural and social impact in our community, not to mention environmental damage," Aledeci Arara, a tribal leader, told the G1 news portal. The plant's manager, Paulo Rogerio Novaes, indicated that the company is waiting the results from a study being conducted by Funai, which is Brazil's indigenous affairs agency. The vast majority of Brazilian energy is generated by hydroelectric dams. The Brazilian government has approved construction of several other new plants in the Amazon. In a similar story earlier this year, Native American objections threatened to hold up the construction of an off-shore wind farm in Massachusetts.

Should clean energy trump an indigenous populations' traditions?

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Comments

Submitted by Robert S (not verified) on Wed, 08/04/2010 - 08:19

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This is just another example of the complexity of energy choices. Even in the remotest jungle, a power plant is going to be in somebodies back yard. Hopefully, people can recognize this and in combination, make our energy usage more efficient and invest in technologies that will be agreeable to being placed in your backyard. And beware that even "green" technologies can be deployed in an unfriendly manner.

Submitted by Kendall F (not verified) on Wed, 08/04/2010 - 13:15

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I agree with Robert. Hydroelectric dams are especially problematic because of the dramatic consequences of their construction. I wonder to what extent the company building the dam consulted with the local population before construction began...

Submitted by Stephan Greenwell (not verified) on Tue, 09/21/2010 - 10:50

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Submitted by jvasko (not verified) on Wed, 10/27/2010 - 18:15

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I'm glad you're enjoying it Stephan. Thanks for your feedback!