Madeira dam proposal

Brazilian officials are proposing the construction of a new dam on the largest tributary of the Amazon river. The eight-hundred and fifty people who would be flooded out of their homes are protesting and have formed the Movement of Dam-Affected people. One member of the group says that he was ousted from his last home due to the erection of a new dam and was never compensated. One Bolivian hydrologist has stated that building a dam on these heavily silt-laden waters is ridiculous. And though the government has tantalized environmentalists with promises of special fish spillways, the inroads and dam construction would surely attract new settlers and gas dillers, which would only exacerbate the problem of deforestation. But small group uprisings such as the MDA are promising; I believe it is likely that only through popular uprising will Latin American environmental reform take place.

Here's the link from 'THE ECONOMIST.'