Windmill protest. Chaopescao via Flickr
The topic got a bit lost in the coverage about the trapped mine workers, but on August 26 the Chilean president Sebastián Piñera decided to relocate construction of a thermal power plant next to a marine reserve after intense protests online and on the streets. Global Voices has a good synthesis of the coverage on Twitter and in the blogosphere.
Thermic power plants serve to generate electricity, by turning heat energy into electrical energy. The downside are inmense sea water extracions and huge polluting emissions. The project, lead by French-Belgian Suez energy would cost 1,2 billion dollars. Since 2009, the online action group Chaopescao (bye fish) has protested against the plant, and for clean wind energy. Chile, with an almost 6500 km long north-south coastal line, covers almost all possible climates and has a great potential for various sorts of natural energy generation.
The "group of youngsters", as they call themselves, produced an online documentary and organized demonstrations troughout 2009 and 2010. On August 24, 2000 people protested on the street in Santiago, before 25000 people had signed a petition against the placement. 38 people were arrested.
Sebastián Piñera, a conservative billionaire, got elected as the new president in January 2010, as the successor of the former centre-left president Michelle Bachelet. His main objective is to boost the Chilean economy. In the Santiago Times, he said "We need to double our sources of energy during this decade, but we must improve our environmental laws to ensure the preservation of the environment for the future.”
In Patagonia, southern Chile, another huge but controversial energy project is being realised. Six hydroelectic dams are constructed, at a cost of 9 billion dollars, stretching 1900 km of cables over protected forests that lead the energy to the capital. In this case, protests did not help the realization. Chile seems to depend on the goodwill of the president, but it also seems civic protests are on the rise.
Trailer Chao Pescao (with English subtitles)