Travel: Coyhaique day 2 (part 3)
You thought we were done with Coyhaique posts? Not quite. See, I’d mentioned getting Rodolfo to guest post, but that is going to happen in approximately 2015, so I figured I’d try to just summarize from what he told me of a particularly interesting conversation he had with the men working in customs at the port in Puerto Chacabuco as I sat in the car in the pouring rain wondering if he was ever coming back. And yes, I really did love every second of our weekend, why do you ask?
It’s pretty impossible to visit Chile and not see the big billboard outside the airport calling for Patagonia Sin Represas – Patagonia without dams. I knew that there was an energy company, HidroAysén, that wants to put dams in several rivers in Chilean Patagonia to provide hydroelectric energy, and I knew that there was a big campaign called Patagonia Sin Represas which says the dams will ruin the natural beauty and the ecosystem. And honestly, that’s about all I knew. I have friends who’ve taken up the anti-represa cause, but I’ve stayed out of the debate because I didn’t feel educated enough to have an opinion. Obviously I’m not in favor of ruining gorgeous landscapes or killing animals, but to be totally honest, if messing up a bit of Patagonia means making a major leap forward in alternative energy that would prevent worse environmental problems in other places, I can see how that would be a fair trade-off.
I still don’t know all that much about the issue, but it’s hard to go to Patagonia, even the northern part of Patagonia just for a few days, and not have it come up. Our first conversation about HidroAysén was with a travel agent in Coyhaique itself. She was talking about how almost all the tourism in Coyhaique is geared toward international tourists who want luxury trips with fancy fly fishing lodges. Of course, if you’re damming up rivers, tourism might just dry up as well. The whole appeal of flying to the end of the earth is that it’s untouched, unspoilt, untamed. No one wants to make the long journey to Patagonia if there’s nothing to see. So score one for Patagonia Sin Represas – at least one local is on their side, and it seemed to us to make sense that plenty of other people whose livelihoods come from tourism would feel similarly. When we mentioned the campaign to stop the project, however, and how we knew a lot of people in Santiago who support it, she just shook her head and said that all this was decided under President Aylwin (1990-1994) and that HidroAysén was going to come in and complete its business deal regardless.
Conversation number two, as I said, occurred in Puerto Chacabuco, and it was surprising to both Rodolfo and me. Rodolfo asked about economic opportunity in Puerto Chacabuco – what do people do? are there chances to improve your lifestyle? – and was told that the main employer is the fishing plant. Because there’s no real competition, salaries are low. The men working at the port were hopeful that the arrival of HidroAysén would mean more jobs with potentially higher salaries. At the very least, it would give people two professional options instead of just one. And you know what? I respect that opinion. I understand that for me in Santiago, it’s easy to say “no, don’t ruin Patagonia, I want to go there on vacation and feel good just knowing it exists even if I never go!” But if you live there, and you’re having trouble making ends meet, and you don’t see any other options, I can definitely see how the idea of your professional horizons widening to double what you’ve got right now would be pretty attractive, and tough luck for the rivers.
I mentioned this second point of view to a colleague, however, and she brought up a good point. How long are those jobs going to last? I figured that there would be low-skilled jobs to be performed in the day-to-day running of a hydroelectric plant that the residents of Puerto Chacabuco, Coyhaique and surrounding areas could do, providing long-term economic opportunity. One source she found, however, indicates that once the dams themselves are built – which does create jobs for low-skilled employees – there’s not a whole lot to do without more education. Apparently plant maintenance requires fewer and more highly-skilled people than I was thinking. So while HidroAysén is technically right in encouraging the locals to get on board with the dams by promising jobs, the question is how long those jobs will last and whether they will really offer any kind of long-term change in locals’ lifestyles once the rivers have been blocked and the scenery’s been forever altered.
I don’t know that I feel much more educated on the whole issue post-Coyhaique in terms of being able to objectively weigh the positives and negatives and decide just how bad the dams are (vs. just how good any potential non-fossil fuel energy generation is). Having been there, I can say that I see why people are so anxious to protect this region, and I will be sad if such an amazing landscape is ruined. More than anything, however, our trip brought the issue of jobs and economic opportunity into my realm of consciousness. While we were there, Rodolfo and I were surprised to see that all tourism is focused on foreigners with big bucks, and we found it a shame that so many Chileans prefer to say they went to Brazil or Argentina over summer vacation – for a similar price since there aren’t many budget travel opportunities in Coyhaique. Perhaps creating lower cost lodging and tour options and encouraging domestic tourism would provide new jobs to locals, give more Chileans the chance to see such a beautiful part of their own country, and create more allies in the fight to keep Patagonia free of damaging industrial projects.
interesting. seems to me like it's been a fete accomplis for quite some time. just a matter of when it's up and running. one thing you didn't mention, which is also a valid pro-hidroaysen, is that chile has a ***HUGE*** energy problem i.e. there isn't enough of it so building + electric capacity is necessary. if you want clean energy it's either hydro or nuke in chile…i'm sure you'd have plenty of peeps fighting against a nuke option (though, if memory serves me, during their campaigns both pinera and frei mentioned being open to nuclear energy). talk about all the jobs that will be LOST if chile doesn't fix their electricity problem. muchos. i think it's smart that you're not jumping all over the patagonia sin represas band wagon. obviously nobody likes dams ruining natural beauty. but people also like their lights on. just a thought. also a bit sad what you're saying about how costly it is to go down to the way south…that's part of why i haven't been…you either backpack it yeti style (not my scene) or you stay in 5 star luxury hotels (too expensive)…ho hum…will get down there eventually.
Wow, you covered a lot of issues in this post haha! The damn issue is so fascinating to me. I see both sides, you know? I was in China when they were building the damn that was destroying the Yangzi River. It was heartbreaking to see what it was doing to one of the most beautiful places in the world in person, but hearing how it would help the greater good confused the heck out of me. Anyway, when I see R next week I will tell him he needs to guest post.
Count me among those who don't know enough to have an opinion. So you mean HidroAysen actually has a deal to do this already?!? I had no clue. I thought it was a possible idea that maybe would happen if it ever got approved. Color me ignorant.
KM, good point! Totally forgot to mention that Chile has an energy crisis, so thanks for bringing it up for people who might not know. I know there's at least one natural gas project in the works that's supposed to help out some, but the HidroAysén fans are definitely using Chile's need for more energy (clean or not) as an argument for their side.
Andi, I think these projects are always like that. Even something like wind power has negative effects (the turbines kill birds), so we just have to try to find the lesser of all possible evils.
Kyle, yup, apparently it's a done deal, which I didn't know either until Coyhaique. I'm not sure if Patagonia Sin Represas has a realistic chance of stopping anything or if it'll just end up being a public outcry/possible prevention of any further projects.
The fact that Chileans even consider building the damns amazes me. We have a very short memory. We have to go back just a few years to realize the same threats and promises were made by the very same people to dam el alto Bio-Bio. Jobs, cheap electricity, development never reached its vicinity. What did we get instead? A marvelous, unique ecosystem, one of the best rivers in the world for rafting, and indigenous that live there hundred of years (who never damaged the land in significant ways) are gone forever. Nowadays we want to repeat that experience, and not only mess up the Baker. Because the electricity generated is meant for mining mainly, there will have to be a 2300 km highway to carry the energy. Emily, I reviewed your rout and realized you didn’t get to the deep Patagonia. I challenge anyone sane to go to Queulat park or Pumalin park, sit and ponder for 5 minutes and not feel awful (in the old meaning of the word: full of awe). And then picture lovely towers of steel (85 meters tall—roghly, a 30-story building—, every 400 meters) crossing them.
When I lived in Patagonia, fishing was the big thing. According to CEOs of fishing companies, there was almost no limit in the quantities the ocean could supply. The Frio Sur’s ships (one of the 2 big companies) welcome its ships with cueca, vino, y empanadas. Oh man, there was plenty for everyone. Now, they are fighting for scraps. That’s gone. Then, salmon farming came. It was the future, until the ISA virus appeared. Now, we trying to move the industry further south. Why not? let’s fuck up another pristine area.
I realise you have had no hand or part in it, but congrats' on getting those men from the mine.