The Norwegian Parliament voted to open protected rivers to hydroelectric energy plants, prompting the anger of conservative groups that fear the fate of fish and other wildlife.
The bill allows the power plants that exceed 1 megawatts in protected waterways if the societal benefit is “important” and environmental consequences “acceptable”. It was voted on Thursday as part of measures to improve flood protection and landslides.
Une Bastholm, a green member of Parliament, described the proposal as a “historic attack on the Norwegian nature” when it was unveiled last week.
Environmental activists say they believe that the proposal will lead to an “endless stream” of the new battles on the development of the river. They criticized the government, who told it through appropriate general advice or environmental impact assessments.
Trols Golovin, President of the Norwegian Society for save He said from nature: “We will fight for every protected water cycle, for every river, a waterfall, and every lake. We will not give up what we won during more than a hundred years of the struggle of the waterway due to an irresponsible and irresponsible decision.”
Norway, a country from the north, known for its dramatic harassment and virgin nature, protects nearly 400 waterways with plans that prevent them from being exposed to large power plant lines. Rivers and species in them come separately Under the threat From intense agriculture and climate crisis.
Activists were detained outside the Norwegian parliament on Tuesday and presented a petition that opposes the development of hydroelectric energy in protected waterways, which they said collected 25,000 signatures.
Support supporters claim that critics “developed” the risks that make you nature. Approval criteria are still unchanged, and companies that seek to build hydroelectric dams will continue to face strict reviews before a permit is granted.
The proposal was voted on Thursday by the Conservative Party, the Progress Party, the Labor Party, and the Center’s Party. Christian Democrats withdrew their support, noting uncertainty about formulation.
“It is a sad day for wild salmon and all other types of what was supposed to be protected rivers permanently,” said Pål Mugaas, a spokesman for Norske Lakseelver (Norwegian salmon river).
Conflicts on renewable energy have rocked Norwegian politics in recent months. The government collapsed at the end of January in a row due to the adoption of the latest clean energy package for the European Union.
The Norwegian Electricity Network is among the cleaners on this planet – as a result of its damage to electrical energy – and the country has a net energy source for a long time cheap bills.
“This situation makes it politically difficult to defend investments in renewable energy sources,” said Merit Dotroud Leren, a political scientist at the Chertron International Climate Research Center.
Clean energy conflicts in Norway have so far focused on wind turbines. The refusal to dismantle the wind farm, which was found to have violated the rights of the original Semitic reindeer sponsors in 2021, attracted the support of climate activists around the world, including Swedish activist Greta Thonberg.
“In general, the Norwegians are more positive for the electromagnetic blossom than the air force. However, there are essentially any places to build large electrical power plants without building in the protected nature,” Leerin said.
Forenbar Norg, the Norwegian renewable power collection, said in a statement last week that it had supported the proposal to reduce the protection of the river.
He said: “This, among other things, is related to projects that have a significant impact to reduce floods. At the same time, it is good that the decision is not a free pass to build new facilities in protected waterways.”
Norwegian water resources and energy The Directorate (NVE) previously stated that there is a minimal force obtained from the exploitation of rivers without large interventions in nature.
“There is hardly any great potential for development in the protected waterways, unless you want to take advantage of the most beautiful and most prominent nature that we have,” Kjetil Lund, director of NVE, told the Norwegian broadcaster NRK on Tuesday.
