The Punta de Choros problem

Today, August 24th, the COREMA approved the multinational Suez Energy project, called thermic central Barrancones, with 15 votes for and 4 against the project.

This project consists in the construction of 2 mega thermoelectric plants in Chungungo cove, very near the traditional town Punta de Choros, a small cove in Coquimbo Region, this cove is a beautiful place where are located two of the five Chilean marine reserves, and where also lives the 80% of the Humboldt penguin population that is between only 3.000 and 12.000 around the world, I have to mention that the number of Humboldt penguins is declining, also this cove is a very important place for all the fishermen that live of fishing as their only one income.

Everything started in December 2007 when the project was presented to the ambient impact evaluation service, and the resolution should be given in October 2009, but the company needed to present more details to the COREMA, so it was postponed.

These thermoelectric plants will operate with coal, and we all know how toxic this can be, but the COREMA and the company say that this is not going to cause several damage to our environment as the people against the project say, but it is obviously going to affect the coastline, the quality of life of the people living there, and the ecosystem in general, we just have to think that one of the most beautiful beaches in our country will be transformed in an awful and polluted place full of toxic garbage.

A lot of people have protested against the thermoelectric, and now is asking our current president, Sebastian Piñera, to remember what he said when he was not president yet, in an interview he said he was against all the thermoelectric that would cause damage to our environment.

The Chao Pescao movement was created to protect Punta de Choros, and they made a lot of advertisements to promote the idea of defending our ecosystem, now they are organizing a protest, we can still save our environment.

Another important thing to mention is that of all the people who voted in the resolution of the project, the 4 people who voted against the thermoelectric are people from Coquimbo Region, and the other 15 that voted for the project are from the seremi or governors, this make me think that if the ones who voted in favour of the project were living near these future thermoelectric they would have voted against the project.
It is highly relevant that we give our opinion, we must stop this kind of things, a few people are destroying our environment and turning it into money, I do not want to know how our country is going to be in the next 50 years, we will end with all the ecosystem.


We have to stop polluting our environment, this is not over yet.