Don't let HidroAysen destroy Patagonia's wilderness

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!