Dams are 'centerpiece of greenwashing' in the Amazon
Brazil's ambitious plans to build 30 dams in the Amazon basin could trump the country's efforts to protect the world's largest rainforest, said a leading Amazon scientist speaking at the annual meeting of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) in Bonito, Brazil. Philip Fearnside of Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia in Manaus, warned that contrary to claims put forth by proponents, dams in the Amazon aren't a source of green energy. Nor do they offer good returns for the tens of billions of dollars that will need to be invested. "Dams are a centerpiece of greenwashing here in the Amazon," he said during a symposium on changing drivers of deforestation organized by mongabay.com.
