Patagonia’s wild rivers to be dammed, destroying ancient temperate forests, for 50 years of electricity; please let supposedly environmentally responsible Home Depot know they should not be doing business with the project’s primary Chilean advocate

TAKE ACTION! One of Chile’s last true pristine and intact wildernesses is to be dammed and logged to provide hydroelectricity. The dams — two on the Baker River and three on the Pascua River — would irretrievably damage Patagonia [search], one of the Earth’s wildest and most beautiful places. The HidroAysén project will flood river valleys containing several thousand hectares of ancient primary forests. The project’s transmission line would require extensive clearcutting of further pristine Chilean native forests [search], clearing more than a 1,500-mile swath that will impact fourteen national parks and wilderness reserves.

Shockingly, the main Chilean project proponent — the Matte Group — does extensive business with U.S. mega-corp Home Depot [search], broadly perceived as being “green”. In consultation with International Rivers, Ecological Internet is working to get Matte to withdraw from the project by highlighting their business interests with Home Depot. Please challenge Home Depot to live up to their green image on Earth Day 2008, and refuse to participate in the greenwashing of Patagonian wild river and ancient forest destruction. Insist Home Depot cease doing business with Matte until they withdraw from HidroAysén. TAKE ACTION!