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A new dam under construction in the Amazon has almost silenced critics. The $8 billion usd Santo Antonio project was designed it to avoid controversies that have delayed other dam projects for years and multiplied their costs.
"The builders spent some $600 million to head off trouble with regulators, environmental groups and Indian tribes before it arose. They trained thousands of rain-forest residents to provide a local labor pool and built modern houses for families who will be displaced. They created a high-tech fish ladder so species like giant catfish can get around the dam—and to meet one local demand, they built an alligator slaughterhouse."
Dams already provide over 80% of the nation's power and Brasil hopes to build as many as 24 dams in the Amazon this decade, spending $100 billion to increase capacity by 60% by 2019.
