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California's AB 1404 Passes!

Tue, 09/15/2009 - 11:57am

The final AB 1404 Scoreboard

The final AB 1404 Scoreboard

In a narrow 21-to-19 vote on Saturday, the California Senate passed AB 1404, which would strictly limit offsets in California's global warming program and entirely exclude the CDM!

This landmark bill would make the California legislature the first US governmental body to put such strict limits on the use of offsets. According to Erin Rogers of the Union of Concerned Scientists,

Victory: Mexico's La Parota Dam Delayed Until 2018

Mon, 09/14/2009 - 3:28pm

Communities March Against La Parota Dam (CECOP)

Communities March Against La Parota Dam (CECOP)

For thousands of people living along the Papagayo River in Guerrero State in Mexico, the news that the destructive and unjust La Parota Dam has been delayed until at least 2018 comes as a huge relief. After a 6-year battle, the Mexican Federal Electricity Commission announced yesterday it is postponing the project, along with nine other electricity projects across the country. The Commission cites the economic downturn as one reason for the postponement, but the real reason is the intense opposition by thousands of small farmers and indigenous people who would lose land, fisheries and other natural resources as a result of the dam.

UN Suspends Another CDM Auditor - SGS

Mon, 09/14/2009 - 1:25pm

Lightening over London (http://galleries.thelondonpaper.com/lightning-storm-london-august-2008/)

Lightening over London (http://galleries.thelondonpaper.com/lightning-storm-london-august-2008/)

Lightening never strikes the same place twice...except when you're a CDM auditor with problems that just won't take cover.

After our very own thunderstorm in the Bay Area this weekend, I awoke to the news that yet another CDM auditor, this time SGS UK, has been suspended for bad practice according to The Sunday Times. SGS seems to be carrying on the (in)glorious tradition started by DNV, which was suspended last year. SGS's suspension also follows closely in the footsteps of the recent WWF scorecard that gave all the major auditors a failing grade, including an E for SGS.  

Interview: Victory Over Mexico's La Parota Dam

by Monti Aguirre

Since 2004, thousands of Mexican farmers have been fighting the construction of La Parota Dam in the state of Guerrero. They have staged blockades, protests and legal actions and have faced violent police repression in return.

Related content:

Victory: European Governments Backing Out of Ilisu Dam Project in Turkey

Hasankeyf

Hasankeyf

June 22, 2009

Germany, Austria and Switzerland will withdraw their export credit guarantees for the highly controversial Ilisu dam project in Turkey by July 6th, as the German daily Frankfurter Rundschau Online reported. This is an unprecedented step in the history of export finance. 

Related content:

Hail Mary! Aussie Activists Celebrate Dam Suspension

Thu, 11/27/2008 - 2:55pm

Mary River Information Center, Kadanga, Queensland (Patrick McCully/International Rivers)

Mary River Information Center, Kadanga, Queensland (Patrick McCully/International Rivers)

Communities in the Mary Valley in Queensland, Australia, are celebrating the announcement by state Premier, Anna Bligh, that construction on a bitterly opposed dam would be delayed by up to four years. The Traveston Crossing Dam would displace hundreds of families, flood thousands of acres of rich farmland, and endanger iconic species including the Queensland lungfish and the endangered Mary River turtle and cod.

Proponents claim the dam is needed to increase water storage because of the worsening droughts caused by global warming. Opponents point to studies showing numerous cheaper alternatives for saving and storing water, and the high evaporation and greenhouse gas emissions from the big, shallow reservoir.

River Revival Bulletin

Saint-Etienne-du-Vigan Dam, Upper Allier River, France, June 1998

Saint-Etienne-du-Vigan Dam, Upper Allier River, France, June 1998

The River Revival Bulletin is a regular electronic bulletin produced by International Rivers, summarizing recent developments in dam decommissioning and river restoration around the world. All items are referenced with the source(s) where more detailed information can be obtained. If desired, complete source documentation may be obtained directly from International Rivers.

Sign up to receive the Bulletin by e-mail.

Please visit our River Revival page for more information about dam removal and river restoration.

Related content:

Reviving the World's Rivers

Dam Removal

For those of us now being saddled with the costs of years of unquestioned dam–building, it would be unconscionable to remain silent.

– Dan Beard
Commissioner of the US Bureau of Reclamation (1993 – 1995)

Related content:

Pak Mun Dam

Boats at Pak Mun Dam

The 136 MW Pak Mun Dam, which was completed in 1994, was built by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand with US$24 million in financing from the World Bank.

From the outset, the project was highly controversial due to the predicted impacts on the rich and productive fisheries of the Mun River, the largest tributary of the Mekong River. Between 1990 and 1997, there was intense opposition to the dam by thousands of people living in local communities along the Mun River.

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