There is environment friendly development, and there is pushing a country into forbidding every kind of energy generation available. What do you want to replace hydroelectricity with?
> there is pushing a country into forbidding every kind of energy generation available
which is not what is happening in Brazil. There are enormous opportunities for energy generation far away from the Amazon. In fact, a lot of foreigners don't know but the vast majority of Brazilian population lives nowhere near the Amazon. Creating an energy grid in the forest is a great way to waste energy due to traveling long distances in transition cables.
> There are enormous opportunities for energy generation far away from the Amazon.
Like where?
The Amazon is 50% of the area of Brazil, and the only place where most large falls aren't harvested yet. Besides, most of the Brazilian rivers are there by number, and an even bigger share of them by volume.
You know, there are plenty of articles just like this one criticizing the construction of wind farms in the NE (there, because the South is way too small to have a sizeable project).
There aren't enough articles criticizing Brazilian solar farms. That's probably because they are expensive. As they get cheap enough to turn a profit, you can be sure the articles will appear.
And, perhaps more importantly, nuclear energy in the coast, which Brazil is already investing heavily in. IIRC, our third nuclear facility is set to open in 2018.
I wasn't commenting on hydro plants in general but rather on the OP's commentary on environmentalism vs. economic development. Hydro is great.. if the consequences are reasonable, and that's totally project-dependent.
If the goal is climate-friendly power that doesn't take a lot of space, the obvious choice is nuclear. It has a better safety record than hydroelectric and is currently experiencing a tremendous expansion in China and other parts of Asia.
which is not what is happening in Brazil. There are enormous opportunities for energy generation far away from the Amazon. In fact, a lot of foreigners don't know but the vast majority of Brazilian population lives nowhere near the Amazon. Creating an energy grid in the forest is a great way to waste energy due to traveling long distances in transition cables.