Paula Bañados thinks her government is lying. She is one of thousands of Chileans who took to the streets last summer to protest five dams proposed for construction on pristine Chilean rivers. Protesters bravely faced police retaliation which included fire from water cannons. Like many Chileans, Bañados thinks her government has exaggerated Chile's future energy crisis as a way to railroad the dam project.

Now a congressional report finds that the dams' environmental impact assessment was also fudged.  A spokesperson for the NGO Ecosistemas worries that Chile's President Sebastian Piñera and other elected officials stand to gain from the project and sided inappropriately with HidroAysen, the company which proposes to build the dams. Some environmentalists believe the proposed dams will mostly benefit Chile's mining industry, not its residents. Tell Chile not to build unsafe dams in Patagonia!

We the undersigned share the concerns of thousands of Chileans who have protested the construction of five dams in southern Chile's pristine wild lands. It appears the environmental impact assessment for the project is neither accurate nor thorough. It also appears that some government officials who supported the project have direct conflicts of interest and should recuse themselves from the debate. Please do not allow an energy project to pollute rivers and streams for the benefit of the mining industry.