Argentine President Mauricio Macri has decided to continue pursuing one of the bigger-ticket—and controversial—projects pending from his predecessor, Cristina Kirchner: construction of Argentina’s fourth nuclear power plant. In the 2017 budget he submitted to Congress on Sept. 19, Macri requested US$9 billion in borrowing authority to build Atucha III, an 800-megawatt nuclear power station whose construction was approved in 2009 but has yet to be funded. The budget request marks the first action on atomic power by Macri, who took office on Dec. 10, 2015 and has sent signals since then that Argentina has no plans to put its nuclear capability to military use. In March, Macri headed Argentina’s delegation to the fourth Nuclear Security Summit, an international meeting that...
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The drought that beat down on the Pilcomayo River during the recently concluded South American winter has killed 464 caimans, according to the Paraguayan government, which says the dry spell was Paraguay’s worst in 19 years. Images shared on social media of caimans clambering on cracked, sun-baked sediment prompted dozens of volunteers to travel from Asunción to the Paraguayan Chaco to help save the creatures, members of the species Caiman yacare. In June, July and August, an improvised transportation effort whose participants ranged from a taxi driver to veterinarians and emergency-services personnel moved hundreds of the reptiles to artificial farm ponds used to store water for irrigation. The Pilcomayo, part of the River Plate watershed, originates 5,500 meters high in the Bolivian Andes...
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Brazil this month became the third of the world’s 10 leading greenhouse-gas emitters to ratify the Paris Agreement on climate change. Though the move drew some applause, many experts appeared unimpressed. They argue Brazil is not taking the steps it must to meet voluntary climate targets it set in conjunction with the agreement—limits that they criticize as less than ambitious. China and the United States, the world’s first and second biggest carbon emitters, respectively, ratified the accord on Sept. 3. Brazil, the seventh largest, followed suit on Sept. 12 when President Michel Temer signed an instrument of ratification following congressional approval. Temer deposited the document at the U.N. on Sept. 21, officially registering ratification along with 30 other countries to do so on...
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Peru’s Congress has passed a measure that saves the highly polluting La Oroya smelter and refinery complex from immediate liquidation. But despite the last-minute reprieve, the complex’s future remains unclear. The measure, a change to Peru’s bankruptcy law, appears tailor-made for the La Oroya complex, though it could be applied to other companies. It effectively gives the complex’s administrators until Aug. 2017 to find a buyer, with the possibility of an extension to 2018. The legislative action, taken Aug. 25, came just two days before the deadline for the administrators to find a buyer or begin liquidation. Just before taking office on July 28, Peru’s new president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, visited La Oroya and announced that his government would seek legislative support for...
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