Ecuador - Go Ahead, Drill For Oil In A National Park - Reuters

[hatrack]

EDIT

"The Ecuadorean government approved plans by Petroleo Brasileiro, or Petrobras, to drill in Block 31 after spending a year completing environmental impact studies. Block 31, believed to hold 230 million barrels of oil, is in Yasuni National Park, which was designated a protected biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 1989.

Ecuadorean environmentalist and indigenous groups warn that with Wednesday's deal, three foreign oil companies will now be able to drill virtually throughout the reserve. The other concessions have been awarded to Spanish-based Repsol-YPF and U.S.-based Occidental Petroleum Corp.

Energy Minister Eduardo Lopez downplayed the protests Wednesday, telling Dow Jones Newswires that Petrobras met all the legal requirements. The company also plans to invest US$100 million in the country over the next five years, he added.

Deputy Environment Minister Ruben Moreno said that regulators will ensure that Petrobras uses the latest technology to avoid environmental damage or harm to jungle Indian communities."

EDIT

http://www.enn.com/news/2004-08-26/s_26726.asp

[el_gato]

1. UNESCO has basically stolen this land from the people of Ecuador

and is now awarding it to corprate pirates.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Not UNESCO

the Ecuadorean government. UNESCO wanted it to remain jungle, as did the environmentalists and indigenous groups.

[phantom power]

2. The idea of "protected lands" is a delusion.

If people decide that they want the resources on some tract of land badly enough, they'll just dismantle the protections and take the resources.

(I'd be happy to see somebody convince me otherwise)

[TransitJohn]

4. You know it

it's like ANWR. As long as there is a demand for energy, and a profit to be made, the switch to petro-alternatives won't happen, and that oil WILL come out, sooner or later.