In a victory for environmental groups, Belize’s Supreme Court ruled on April 16th to annul oil drilling contracts in the waters of the Belize Barrier Reef, the 960-square-kilometer (370-sq-mile) network of coral reefs that forms part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the second largest reef system in the world. The ruling came in response to a challenge from a coalition of environmental, tourism and other civic groups concerned about the potential impact of an oil spill on Belize’s ecology and economy. It was a stinging rebuke to the government, which from 2004 to 2007 awarded U.S. and Belizean companies six contracts for exploration of reef waters. The court ruled the government violated the law by not carrying out environmental-impact assessments...
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An Atacama regional environmental commission this month approved what will become the largest photovoltaic facility in South America. Covering 350 hectares (860 acres) in the Atacama desert of northern Chile, the US$241 million investment by U.S.-based SunEdison could produce a 100-megawatt solar plant capable of supplying about 15% of the energy needs of the mining ventures of Chilean mining and steel holding company CAP. Company officials say the first phase of the project should be ready by the end of this year. Local tourism companies are concerned, however, that the Atacama plant may harm tourism at the nearby Medanoso sand dunes, the highest in Chile and amoung the highest dunes in the world. The plant is to be located 22 kilometers (14...
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A series of events culminating in the resignation of a top Peruvian official has exposed conflicts in the government over implementation of a new law requiring that indigenous communities be consulted about development projects that would affect their collective rights. Iván Lanegra, the Ministry of Culture’s vice minister for intercultural affairs, who had led efforts to implement the law, stepped down on May 6. Lanegra’s resignation followed a televised interview in which Peruvian President Ollanta Humala questioned whether Andean communities should be considered indigenous and thus qualify for prior consultation. Lanegra’s office had identified four indigenous groups in the highlands and 48 in the Amazon. Humala’s reference to Andean communities as “agrarian” echoed the view of government officials and industry executives who argue such communities...
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The image of a dead condor has unleashed furious recriminations on Ecuadorian social networks. A photo sent out on Twitter and Facebook on April 28 shows five men with a condor that had been shot purportedly in a protected forest, the Irquis-Yanuncay, in the Ecuadorian province of Azuay. Three of the men are smiling and holding the bird up, with one giving the thumbs-up sign. On social networks, a surge of messages insisted that those responsible be prosecuted. The Ecuadorian Environment Ministry felt compelled to issue a response on the day the photo appeared. Using Twitter, Environment Minister Lorena Tapia said: “We will not allow this type of action to remain in impunity.” The day after publication of the photo, the Environment Ministry...
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At least 100 million people in Latin American and the Caribbean are exposed to disease-causing air from cars and buses, power plants and other sources, and the problem threatens to get worse, according to a new report. The report by the nonprofit Clean Air Institute in Washington, D.C. warns that rates of premature death from air contamination are increasing at alarming rates in the region. Nearly 25,000 people died from air-related ailments in Brazil and more than 15,000 in Mexico in 2008 alone. Air degradation and its impact on health also is affecting the region’s economy, with countries such as Bolivia, Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru and El Salvador losing up to 2% of their gross domestic product as a result. The report, issued April...
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Even in its demolition, the American Smelting and Refining Company (Asarco) smelter continues generating controversy on the U.S.-Mexico border. In the latest chapter of the El Paso, Texas plant’s contentious history, the former smelter’s two enormous smokestacks—one measuring 252 meters (828 feet) and the other 186 meters (612 feet)—were toppled. The work rekindled debate about environmental contamination, both from the demolition and from pollutants ranging from lead and cadmium to arsenic and military waste that allegedly remain as a result of more than a century of smelting metals and incinerating toxic substances. Carried out by Project Navigator, the trustee named by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to perform environmental remediation of the site, the demolition drew crowds on both sides...
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