Guri, a ginormous hydro project in Venezuela, ended up producing far less power than anticipated. Bruce Krasting asked a friend at the World Bank what happened.
BK: Where’s the juice at Guri?
WB: Bad question to ask. The rainfall that historically fed the region has changed its pattern and annual flow. There are some who think that the enormous lake that was created changed the way the rain fell. Less water, less electicity.
BK: Incredible! Has this been proven? It would create a big stink if this were to come out.
WB: There will be no study. The dam has been built. No one wants to hear any bad news about this project. There are too many others like it being built around the world. The World Bank is promoting hydro power. We don’t want to tarnish what we build.
Why am I not surprised that the World Bank would be so ethically comatose that they would promote something they know is detrimental.
The deeply troubled Three Gorges dam area has been in drought since the dam was built. Many other huge hydro projects have had the same thing happen. It seems clear that the dams change the weather.
I conclude that if you mess with nature you’ll get messed back. Hard.
I suppose it has something to do with channelling big money to big corporations and not much to do with ethics or the benefit of humanity. The thing about corporate capitalism is that it is a very short sighted animal.