Sting voices opposition to Amazon dam in Brazil

"All of the reasons I fought against it 20 years ago are still there. It will destroy an entire river system and destroy the lives and culture of the people who live there and have lived there for thousands of years," said Sting, who was in Venezuela for a concert.

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Silva: Not building Amazon dam would be 'insane'

Brazil's president says it would be "insane" to scrap an enormous hydroelectric dam in the Amazon region because other ways of generating power would cause more pollution.

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Brazil to start work on controversial dam in months: report

Work on a huge, controversial dam in Brazil's Amazon is to begin by September at the latest, despite furious opposition from indigenous and environmental groups, Energy Minister Marcio Zimmerman said Friday.

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Brazilian president defends controversial dam project

A country that wants to be the fifth-biggest economy on the planet within the next decade... needs to think five years ahead, and that is why we are doing this," Lula told reporters.

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In Earth Day setback, Brazil OKs dam that will flood swath of Amazon

Damage to the environment is also a major issue. The Xingu river basin has about four times as many species of fish as the whole of Europe, but the work will kill millions of animals and threaten extinction for some species, said Hermes Medeiros, a local ecologist on the review board.

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Video footage from James Cameron's trip to the Amazon

James Cameron and Avatar cast members Sigourney Weaver and Joel David Moore return to the Xingu river and speak out against the Belo Monte Dam in Brazil.

Photo courtesy of Atossa Soltani/Amazon Watch

Judge allows start of bids on controversial Brazil dam

A Brazilian court has overturned a ruling that could have delayed building a massive dam on an Amazon tributary.

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Amazon defenders win bid to stall huge dam project

Actress Sigourney Weaver, who starred in "Avatar" and traveled with Cameron to Brazil, welcomed the dam delay. But she warned of a long fight ahead.

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'Avatar' director lauds ruling on Brazilian dam

"It's a small victory for us, but I don't expect the battle is over," Cameron told The Associated Press by telephone from the small Amazon city of Altamira, where he was lending support to project opponents.

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Brazil suspends Amazon dam project targeted by Avatar director

A Brazilian judge on Wednesday suspended the preliminary license for the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, a controversial project in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, citing "danger of irreparable harm," reports the Amazon Watch, an NGO that has been campaigning on the issue.

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Avatar director James Cameron speaks out against Belo Monte dam

A real-life Avatar conflict is playing out in the Brazilian Amazon as indigenous groups fight against the construction of a giant hydroelectric dam in the heart of the rainforest, the Oscar-winning director James Cameron has warned.

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Letter from James Cameron to President Lula of Brazil about the Belo Monte Dam project

You have a great opportunity, as a world leader, to take decisive action in the immediate short-term to demonstrate Brazil's commitment to these vital issues. I am referring to the Belo Monte Dam project, which will undergo bidding on April 20. I believe strongly that this project should not go forward, and I appeal to you on the basis of logic and compassion, to intercede to prevent its progress.

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Tribes of Amazon Find an Ally Out of ‘Avatar’

Mr. Cameron said that he was writing a letter to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva urging him to reconsider the dam and that he would press for a meeting with the president. “They need to listen to these people here,” he said.

Photo courtesy of Atossa Soltani/Amazon Watch

James Cameron Returns from a visit to Belo Monte Dam Site on the Xingu River

Last week during his address at the International Forum on Sustainability in Manaus, Mr. Cameron expressed his concern about the project saying: "For people living along the river, as they have for millennia, the dam will end their way of life. I implore the Brazilian government, and President Lula, to reconsider this project."

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James Cameron asks Lula to reconsider the project of Belo Monte

In Manaus, Cameron said that the environmental and social impacts of the plant need to be prioritized by the Brazilian government. "I beg to President Lula to reconsider," said Cameron.

Please note: This article is in Portuguese.

Photo courtesy of Kathy Willens/AP

"I do not damage the forest for a movie," says Cameron

James Cameron explains why you do not want to shoot in the Amazon rainforest.

Please note: This article is in Portuguese.

Photo courtesy of Kathy Willens/AP

‘Avatar’ is Real in the Amazon

The story of Chevron in Ecuador is no less dramatic, tragic, or inspiring than the fantasy world of Pandora.

Photo courtesy of AP/20th Century Fox

Avatar in the Amazon

If there were ever a place that came close to the magical world of Pandora in James Cameron’s new film Avatar, it would probably be the Amazon.

Photo courtesy of AP/20th Century Fox