Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Anti-Coal Coalition Launched

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 31 2004 (IPS) - “No to Coal!” is the slogan of a coalition of two-dozen environmental groups formalized last week to demand a ban in Brazil on this energy source. Their priority is to prevent the construction of five coal-fired electrical plants in southern Brazil, where the country's coal deposits are located. The environmental harm caused by this fossil fuel is described in “Coal: Yesterday's Fuel”, a book published by Friends of the Earth-Brazil and Greenpeace, released May 25 to mark the launch of the new coalition.

Its goal is to promote renewable energy sources, such as wind, biomass, and southern Brazil has an abundance of rice chaff and strong winds, Friends coordinator Kathia Monteiro told Tierramérica. The new movement also rejects nuclear energy and major hydroelectric dams, she said.