Successes

Myitsone Protest (courtesy of the BBC)

The success of Burma's civil society groups in halting the Myitsone Dam may come as a surprise to many, but it is a product of the depth and strength of opposition to the project. It is also an indication that a different type of Burmese government is now in charge. The Burmese government's decision to suspend the controversial project on the headwaters of the Irrawaddy also highlights the serious risks of not engaging with civil society critics.

The Myitsone Dam was one of the first projects to really "get under my skin" here at International Rivers. The environmental and social impacts were simply unbelievable. The Myitsone Dam was to generate some 6,000 megawatts of power – of which the majority was to be sent to China – while creating a reservoir the size of Singapore with a depth of a 66-story building. 12,000 Kachin people were expected to be relocated to make way for the dam and up to 20,000 would have been affected by its construction and operation.

Men holding protest sign (Foto SER)

For over a month, close to 2,000 people in the Puno area of the Peruvian Amazon went on strike in an effort to convince the government to cancel mining concessions and the Inambari Dam. They blocked access roads to the region and held mass protests.

To appease the strikers, the government established a high-level commission to review the Inambari Dam. After a tense meeting with local communities on June 13, Commission Chair and Vice-Minister of Energy Luis Gonzales Talledo cancelled the project, stating that the Brazilian consortium Egasur's rights to develop the project had been revoked.

The Inambari Dam was to be built at the corner of Puno, Cusco, and Madre de Dios states, 300 km from the border with Brazil.The project would have flooded 410 square kilometers of forest, including part of the Bahujan Sonene National Park buffer zone. More than 15,000 people would be deprived of their agricultural lands and thus their main source of livelihoods. 

(Save the Mary River campaign)This weekend, communities throughout the Mary River Valley in Australia will be partaking in some hard-earned festivities. One year ago, Australia's Environment Minister announced the rejection of the proposed Traveston Dam on the Mary River, due to its ''unacceptable impacts on matters of national environment significance.'' The Save the Mary campaign had won.

Bhagirathi River at Gangotri, Uttarakhand, India (Atarax42)

For the third year in a row, one of India's most eminent scientists, Professor AD Agarwal, has carried out a "fast-unto-death" in protest against the 600 MW Loharinag Pala hydropower project in Uttarakhand, India. Last year, project construction stopped after Prof. Agarwal came close to dying on the 38th day of his fast, only to resume a year later.

Earlier this week, lead by the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, a group of ministers (GoM) announced they would scrap the project completely. As part of the decision, the government has created India’s first dam-free zone in the ecologically sensitive area, through which the river will flow freely for 135 kilometers. Prof. Agarwal has called off his fast as environmental, religious, and social justice groups rejoice at the news.

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,

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.

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.