When Governments Corrupt
What happens when activists, or idealists enter in the government? The papers are full of accounts of government corruption, but is the converse also true - that governments corrupt, turning activists into staunch defenders of vested interests? Case in point - yesterday´s approval of a provisisonal license for the Angra III nuclear plant by Environmental Minister Carlos Minc.
This 1989 photo shows, among others, Lula and Green Party founder Minc protesting against the Angra III Nuclear plant. The Lula government now projects at least eight new nukes will be built in Brazil.
Without going into the arguments for and against the nuclear plant, it´s certainly a massive flip-flop. Even prominent government officials and energy experts have made their opposition to Angra III clear, for economic as well as technical reasons. Minc justified the licensing of Angra III by noting the imposition of 65 conditions which the state company Eletronuclear will have to meet. But the most prominent of these, the requirement of defining a safe, permanent repository for nuclear wastes, has not been solved anywhere in the world. And, under the Angra III licensing process, the requirement will only have to be met for the plant to be permitted to begin operation. Who will deny an operating license to the plant after billions have been spent on construction?
The Lula government has been a laboratory in social and environmental idealism betrayed. Dozens of former activists and academic experts entered the government, buoyed by their belief that a fresh opportunity had been provided to change the course of Brazilian society. Most have long since left, profoundly disillusioned.
The short tenure of Carlos Minc so far in the Environment Ministry appears to reinforce the theory that governments corrupt, forcing activists and idealists to pledge their allegiance to development policies which reward the elite - in exchange for gaining a semblance of power.
To note, Minc´s statement yesterday:
"All large projects have an impact. The question is to see which projects are essential, which impacts are acceptable, and what compensation is necessary. They wanted to build four large dams on the Xingu. This would greatly affect the river. So, we made an important agreement with the electric sector, with the Mines and Energy Minister, Edison Lobão, and we will license only one dam on the Xingu. And this will have to reduce the area flooded and relocate the people who are there, and will mean the construction of a technical school with a high level of technology for the forest, and we will double the compensation the Indians will be paid. In the case of the Madeira River dams, it´s the same thing. We had to reduce the flooded area by 80%, and each dam builder will have to adopt parks and make alternative routes available on both sides (of the dams) so that migratory fish will not have their reproduction affected. If we abandon hydroelectric dams, we will have to go to coal or oil, which pollute more. We have to provide incentives for alternative energy, such as solar, wind, biogas. Meanwhile, we have to reduce the impacts and increase compensation for residents and for conservation units...The licensing processes will be carried out with speed, rigor, care, and compensation. This is the Ministry´s new philosophy".
