yasuni national park oil
Ecuador to drill park unless world pays?
QUITO, Ecuador – Ecuador will open bidding for a major oil project in a jungle nature reserve in June if the poor Andean country does not receive international funding to abandon the proposal, the oil minister said Monday.
The government is seeking a minimum of $350 million a year from the international community for 10 years not to drill in the Ishpingo-Tiputini-Tambococha fields located in Yasuni National Park, in Ecuador’s northeastern jungle. The money is to compensate Ecuador for income it would have generated by drilling for oil at the site.
The jungle area, which holds close to 1 billion barrels of crude, is part of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Some environmentalists say the reserve has more varieties of plant life than the United States and Canada combined.
See link – http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071211/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/ecuador_drilling_park
Question – What are your thoughts ?
That’s environmental extortion.
