Grand Canyon will be dammed to use for hydro energy
As an American if you heard these words, you would scream in protest. Your would write your congressman, contact the TV networks, march on Washington. You would contribute to GreenPeace and the World Wildlife Fund and the Nature Conservancy, and you would mobilize your friends and neighbors to protest.
Costa Rica is a very small country, but we have our equivalent of the Grand Canyon -- the Pacuare River. Now, the government monopoly electric company (ICE) wants to dam it. Immediately.
The Pacuare River in Costa Rica, called by National Geographic "one of the most beautiful rivers of the world", travels unrestricted from its origin high in the pristine Talamanca mountains to the Caribbean Ocean. The Pacuare River is the last great waterway left in Costa Rica with no huge dams, no major environmental destruction.
Tens of thousands of visitors each year descend the river, enjoying Costa Rica's most famous adventure -- white water rafting. This river, more than any other feature of Costa Rica, has built Costa Rica’s reputation as an an adventure destination. Costa Rica's reputation as an ecologically conscientious country with awesome unspoiled nature comes mainly from people who have enjoyed this famous rafting trip.
This web site has been written to give you a comprehensive background of the Pacuare project. While we're at it, we're sharing with you discoveries we've made into WHY governments "kill the goose that lays the golden egg". What is the real cost of destroying rivers to provide electricity?
We hope you will read every page. But if you only read this first page, here’s some information to remember:
- The electric company (ICE - Instituto
Costaricense Electricidad) is a government monopoly. No one can compete
against it. It’s huge, and unionized. No one really has the political
clout to break the monopoly, which is in most regards stronger than the
elected government. As individuals ICE employees are all nice people, but
they like their secure jobs and working on things they understand well,
which is hydro power. If you want details on the political and economic
clout of how ICE sells off electric power production to foreign countries
(without any constraints by elected officials), see
HOW ICE WORKS.
- ICE’s record of environmental damage is huge.
When asked to clean up messes, the excuse is always "it costs too much".
The destruction of other commercially viable rivers proves this point. We
have lots of before-and-after evidence to show you. If you want to see what
happens when you trust the government monopoly to handle your environment,
see What Happens with Government Promises (or
-- "I’m from the Government and I’m here to help you".
- We certainly recognize the need to increase electrical
power production without consuming expensive imported oil. We understand
the 5% growth rate predicted for Costa Rica’s growing economy. But
there are alternative energy sources which have been tried and
others which have not been tried in Costa Rica.
Most of Costa Rica’s alternative energy production has been financed by friendly nations with virtually no additional production by ICE itself. The government monopoly attitude, and easy reliance on hydro (at whatever cost to the environment) prevents feasible alternatives from getting support in Costa Rica. For a background on alternative energies, from solar, wind (aeolic), geothermal, tidal, wood burning (yes -- as used in New England -- very clean and environmentally sound), Take a look at Alternatives to Hydroelectric Dams. - The Pacuare river basin is on or borders the indigenous
lands of the Cabecar, Bri Bri and Talamanca Indians. As in virtually all
"civilized" countries these tribes have been "removed"
from the rest of Costa Rica and put into tribal lands (land which, heretofore,
was too wild, too difficult to access, too remote from San José’s
city infrastructure to be of any value to white men). Unlike modern "civilized"
countries, however, Costa Rica still feels it has the right to grab more
Indigenous lands when the natural resources are useful. If you want more
information on the sad impact of the Pacuare hydro project on the indigenous
people living, fishing, transporting on the banks of the Pacuare, see Effects
on the Indigenous Population.
- The Pacuare River is the habitat of two endangered
species -- the bobo fish and the ????? frog . It is also the habitat of
the few remaining wildcats, plus the corridor of migratory birds. If you
want to know more about the damage to species and protected animals, see
Environmental Damage.
- When clean rivers get dammed, the water quality
deteriorates to the point of poison. This has happened in Costa Rica on
several recent occasions. To understand how hydroelectric dams destroy water
quality, and all things dependent on clean water, and factual accounts of
recent damage in Costa Rica by ICE, see Hydro Dams -
Damage to Water Quality.
- National pride is also at stake. Costa Rica’s
largest industry is tourism. Tourism is founded on the country’s reputation
for environmental awareness, dedication to nature, and on adventure tourism.
The popular press touts Costa Rica as a model of environmental success.
Yet the history of river destruction is equivalent to the heinous crime
of China’s Three Gorges Dam or the Aswan dam in Egypt (which caused
thousands to die from schistosomiasis, bilharzia, and blood-fluke worms
). See Selling Off Our Children’s Heritage
for more information.
- The international monetary organizations, like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank will not finance the Pacuare project. Any "clean" project can obtain support from the World Bank or International Monetary Fund. For ICE to build the project the financing has to come "covertly". This way they don’t have oversight by experienced, independent, responsible outsiders. By bartering with foreign companies to buy the power output at a fixed (and very lucrative -- for the private power providers) rate. After the contract is ended these companies then hand over the power plant to ICE. Sneaky financing, yes -- the people who pay, however, are power consumers in Costa Rica. Costa Ricans already pay more per kilowatt hour than people in New York City, Detroit, Denver, Los Angeles, or any other American city. Since it is a government monopoly, and since there is a "mixing" of funds, this hidden tax on the people is out of view from the people. See No Taxation Without Representation
Thank you for reading our story. And thank you for helping us stop this destruction. Costa Rica is a small country, and we can actually make a difference with your help. Here's specifically how you can make a difference in a small democracy:
Many companies offer the Pacuare as part of their tours. Use companies which have the Save The Pacuare logo on their web sites. When you make your reservations for Costa Rica (even if you are not going rafting on the Pacuare), ask that the company donate 5% from your booking to help conserve the Pacuare. When you arrive in Costa Rica, your tour company should then give you a numbered certificate from the AOA in thanks for your donation.
Who is AOA? We are the Adventure Outfitter Association (AOA!), a non-profit "industry" group. Our members include the majority of the responsible adventure tourism companies in Costa Rica - rafting, canopy tours, horseback, scuba, mountain biking, trekking, bungee jumping -- everything related to adventure tours. We are united to set safety and environmental standards for the tourism industry of Costa Rica. A receipt from us will assure that the money you have asked to be donated will in fact go towards saving the Pacuare River.
Any money donations directly to our organization would also be appreciated. Money donations are used to print and distribute information pamphlets, to pay for environmental lawyers and environmental studies, to organize action committees, to combat the state-supported pro-hydro education of the people of Costa Rica. We promise you 100% of the money you donate will go directly into the Save the Pacuare project (all of us are volunteers -- did you notice the amateur logo, amateur web page design?)
You can make out checks to Save The Pacuare, and mail checks to
| Save The Pacuare River, Costa Rica P.O. Box 2325 Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 |
Your check will be deposited to the account of Tucker Comstock, d/b/a Save the Pacuare. The money will be transferred to AOA in Costa Rica through normal bank transfer system. |
Start a conversation with other people in your tour group about the environmental disregard of the Costa Rican government. Loud talk actually does make a difference in this small country! Speak with your travel agent and tour operator and hotel owners and tour guides and restaurant owners. And if you know anyone in Costa Rica, socially or through work relations, tell them that you are opposed to the Pacuare dam project. The more people who know there is strong opposition to this project, the more likely we are to prevent this river's destruction.
If you are an activist, and looking for a cause, please come down to Costa Rica and help us with this battle. We can't offer pay or air fare, but we can reward you with awesome experiences in a wonderful (although at times misguided) country.
We are seeking the endorsement of recognized environmental organizations, and we don't know exactly how to go about getting it. If you have contacts in the Nature Conservancy, Greenpeace, Audubon Society, World Wildlife Foundation, Sierra Club, or
