• 3 Posts
  • 23 Comments
Joined 2 years ago
Cake day: May 21st, 2024
  • DMCMNFIBFFF@slrpnk.nettoClimate@slrpnk.net•The Panama Canal’s Real Challenge Is Water, Not Geopolitics
    2·
    1 month ago

    I just read this:

    wp:Panama Canal#Planned Indio River Reservoir

    In response to severe drought conditions that significantly impacted the Panama Canal’s operations in 2023 and 2024, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) announced plans to construct a 4600-hectare reservoir on the Indio River. The project aims to augment the canal’s water supply and ensure consistent operations amid increasing climate variability.[205] The reservoir, estimated to cost $1.6 billion, will include a dam and hold approximately 1.25 billion cubic meters of water. It is expected to provide water for up to 15 additional daily transits during the dry season and support over half of Panama’s population with drinking water.[206] This development followed a Panamanian Supreme Court decision in 2023 that redefined the legal boundaries of the canal’s watershed, enabling water projects like the Indio River reservoir to proceed beyond the traditional limits.[206]

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    The project has also raised social and environmental concerns, as it would displace an estimated 2,000 people and submerge local villages. By 2024, the ACP had begun public consultations to explore mitigation strategies and compensation plans for affected communities.[207] As of March 2026, relocations of affected families was to start in 2027; construction was expected to begin in 2028 and complete by 2031.[208]

  • DMCMNFIBFFF@slrpnk.nettoGreen Energy@slrpnk.net•Clean energy, dirty secrets: Inside the corruption plaguing california’s solar market
    3·
    1 year ago

    They point to a blend of public, private, social, and political patterns of corruption in the California solar energy market.

    1. Clientelism and favoritism: Hiring friends or family over others for solar projects and unfairly allocating government contracts or permits to project developers, which in one instance led to an investigative report questioning the influence of a sexual relationship.

    2. Rent-seeking and land grabbing: Redirecting public funds or lands to benefit private developers and taking communal or public land from Indigenous peoples or other groups for energy infrastructure siting.

    3. Service diversion: Withholding local benefits, such as lower electricity bills, or distributing locally generated power only to higher-paying parts of the state.

    4. Theft: Forceful removal of flora or cultural artifacts, or disturbing animal habitat, to build solar project sites.

    5. Greenwashing: Misleading the public about a solar project’s environmental benefits; using flawed environmental or cultural impact assessments to evaluate project impacts, such as pollution of nearby waterways; and overriding environmental protections to fast-track solar infrastructure expansion.

    6. Tax evasion and avoidance: Not paying or underpaying taxes, or governmental authorities strategically failing to adequately allocate project funds to communities impacted by solar project development.

    7. Non-transparency: Hiding, manipulating, or failing to disclose relevant or important information surrounding solar projects, such as the local economic benefits and environmental impacts.