Geographical Issues Article Study on the Belo Monte Dam Project.
Introduction
An enormous 80% of Brazil’s electrical power is harnessed from its rivers. However a controversial dam project, the Belo Monte Dam, to be built on the Xingu River in the Brazilian state of Pará has thrown the country into uproar, with indigenous peoples and citizens alike protesting in their thousands. The project for what would be the third-largest dam in the world is projected to cost the Brazilian government in excess of around US $20 billion, generating 11,000 megawatts of electricity at full capacity, and has recently seen yet another halt in construction after the Rio Summit in August 2012, due to a court ruling that the indigenous peoples had not been consulted about the project as is law in Brazil. For a project conceived around twenty years ago now, this is a huge setback for the government. And with a predicted energy consumption increase of around 60%, Brazil needs clean renewable energy projects more than ever.
Stop The Belo Monte Monster Dam – Source 1
There’s been fierce protest, yet the government is still moving ahead with the Belo Monte project. Indigenous people’s lives will be affected by the flooding and 20,000 people displaced. The dam is energy inefficient, and a large amount of energy will be sold rather than go to the people. The government has forced this dam upon the population and has consistently lied, and corrupted tests.
Analysis
This article was written by an Amazonwatch Pressure Group member, condemning the Belo Monte Dam and trying to convince the reader that it is not a viable project but is instead a near pointless development that will threaten the livelihoods of many indigenous Amazonian tribes.
Even in the first sentence of the article it is clear that it is intended to be biased against the dam. With the quoting of the Brazilian government moving ahead “at any cost” quoted in inverted commas to imply the government’s insensitivity towards the operation, this is
An enormous 80% of Brazil’s electrical power is harnessed from its rivers. However a controversial dam project, the Belo Monte Dam, to be built on the Xingu River in the Brazilian state of Pará has thrown the country into uproar, with indigenous peoples and citizens alike protesting in their thousands. The project for what would be the third-largest dam in the world is projected to cost the Brazilian government in excess of around US $20 billion, generating 11,000 megawatts of electricity at full capacity, and has recently seen yet another halt in construction after the Rio Summit in August 2012, due to a court ruling that the indigenous peoples had not been consulted about the project as is law in Brazil. For a project conceived around twenty years ago now, this is a huge setback for the government. And with a predicted energy consumption increase of around 60%, Brazil needs clean renewable energy projects more than ever.
Stop The Belo Monte Monster Dam – Source 1
There’s been fierce protest, yet the government is still moving ahead with the Belo Monte project. Indigenous people’s lives will be affected by the flooding and 20,000 people displaced. The dam is energy inefficient, and a large amount of energy will be sold rather than go to the people. The government has forced this dam upon the population and has consistently lied, and corrupted tests.
Analysis
This article was written by an Amazonwatch Pressure Group member, condemning the Belo Monte Dam and trying to convince the reader that it is not a viable project but is instead a near pointless development that will threaten the livelihoods of many indigenous Amazonian tribes.
Even in the first sentence of the article it is clear that it is intended to be biased against the dam. With the quoting of the Brazilian government moving ahead “at any cost” quoted in inverted commas to imply the government’s insensitivity towards the operation, this is