Ecuador 'Green-lights Environmental Disaster' in Biodiversity Hotspot
Environment minister authorized environmental permits for oil drilling in Yasuní National Park
In a move condemned as paving the way for an environmental disaster, the environment minister of Ecuador on Thursday authorized permits for oil exploration to begin within the Yasuni National Park, an area home to two indigenous communities living in voluntary isolation and an area some consider the most biodiverse place in the world.
Oil production in the area could happen as soon as 2016.
In August last year, Ecuador announced that it was abandoning its plan to use international funds to leave the oil in the ground in the preserve, citing a lack of necessary funds raised. Then in October the parliament gave the green light to drilling in the park.
That decision was followed by widespread criticism. "Yasuni is exceptionally rich in species and home to diverse cultures -- including some living in voluntary isolation," stated Stuart Pimm of Duke University. "Its protection defends nature and peoples: destroying it would be a particular tragedy."
Yet as Ecuador offers up the Yasuni to potential oil spills, it is also condemning the oil contamination brought to another area of the Amazon.
"For the government to green-light one environmental disaster the day after it joins the world in condemning another is a cold, calculated move that insults our collective intelligence," Adam Zuckerman, Environmental and Human Rights Campaigner at indigenous rights NGO Amazon Watch, stated to Common Dreams, referring to Chevron's contamination in the Ecuadorian Amazon and the international day of action against the oil giant.
"In its announcement the government forgot to mention that it has already divided up 45% of Yasuni National Park into seven oil concessions. According to its own records, Ecuador's state oil company averages nearly an oil spill every week, and just one spill in the most biodiverse and culturally sensitive part of the Amazon would be tragic," Zuckerman stated.
Critics of the plan to drill in the biodiversity hotspot had spent months gathering signatures to put the issue -- "Are you in favor of leaving oil in the ground in Block 43/Yasuni-ITT indefinitely?" -- on a referendum. While they gathered 850,000 signatures, less than 360,00 were validated by Ecuadorian officials, leaving the petitioners without the number needed to force a referendum. Environmentalists and indigenous groups decried the signature purge as "fraud."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
In a move condemned as paving the way for an environmental disaster, the environment minister of Ecuador on Thursday authorized permits for oil exploration to begin within the Yasuni National Park, an area home to two indigenous communities living in voluntary isolation and an area some consider the most biodiverse place in the world.
Oil production in the area could happen as soon as 2016.
In August last year, Ecuador announced that it was abandoning its plan to use international funds to leave the oil in the ground in the preserve, citing a lack of necessary funds raised. Then in October the parliament gave the green light to drilling in the park.
That decision was followed by widespread criticism. "Yasuni is exceptionally rich in species and home to diverse cultures -- including some living in voluntary isolation," stated Stuart Pimm of Duke University. "Its protection defends nature and peoples: destroying it would be a particular tragedy."
Yet as Ecuador offers up the Yasuni to potential oil spills, it is also condemning the oil contamination brought to another area of the Amazon.
"For the government to green-light one environmental disaster the day after it joins the world in condemning another is a cold, calculated move that insults our collective intelligence," Adam Zuckerman, Environmental and Human Rights Campaigner at indigenous rights NGO Amazon Watch, stated to Common Dreams, referring to Chevron's contamination in the Ecuadorian Amazon and the international day of action against the oil giant.
"In its announcement the government forgot to mention that it has already divided up 45% of Yasuni National Park into seven oil concessions. According to its own records, Ecuador's state oil company averages nearly an oil spill every week, and just one spill in the most biodiverse and culturally sensitive part of the Amazon would be tragic," Zuckerman stated.
Critics of the plan to drill in the biodiversity hotspot had spent months gathering signatures to put the issue -- "Are you in favor of leaving oil in the ground in Block 43/Yasuni-ITT indefinitely?" -- on a referendum. While they gathered 850,000 signatures, less than 360,00 were validated by Ecuadorian officials, leaving the petitioners without the number needed to force a referendum. Environmentalists and indigenous groups decried the signature purge as "fraud."
In a move condemned as paving the way for an environmental disaster, the environment minister of Ecuador on Thursday authorized permits for oil exploration to begin within the Yasuni National Park, an area home to two indigenous communities living in voluntary isolation and an area some consider the most biodiverse place in the world.
Oil production in the area could happen as soon as 2016.
In August last year, Ecuador announced that it was abandoning its plan to use international funds to leave the oil in the ground in the preserve, citing a lack of necessary funds raised. Then in October the parliament gave the green light to drilling in the park.
That decision was followed by widespread criticism. "Yasuni is exceptionally rich in species and home to diverse cultures -- including some living in voluntary isolation," stated Stuart Pimm of Duke University. "Its protection defends nature and peoples: destroying it would be a particular tragedy."
Yet as Ecuador offers up the Yasuni to potential oil spills, it is also condemning the oil contamination brought to another area of the Amazon.
"For the government to green-light one environmental disaster the day after it joins the world in condemning another is a cold, calculated move that insults our collective intelligence," Adam Zuckerman, Environmental and Human Rights Campaigner at indigenous rights NGO Amazon Watch, stated to Common Dreams, referring to Chevron's contamination in the Ecuadorian Amazon and the international day of action against the oil giant.
"In its announcement the government forgot to mention that it has already divided up 45% of Yasuni National Park into seven oil concessions. According to its own records, Ecuador's state oil company averages nearly an oil spill every week, and just one spill in the most biodiverse and culturally sensitive part of the Amazon would be tragic," Zuckerman stated.
Critics of the plan to drill in the biodiversity hotspot had spent months gathering signatures to put the issue -- "Are you in favor of leaving oil in the ground in Block 43/Yasuni-ITT indefinitely?" -- on a referendum. While they gathered 850,000 signatures, less than 360,00 were validated by Ecuadorian officials, leaving the petitioners without the number needed to force a referendum. Environmentalists and indigenous groups decried the signature purge as "fraud."