So many wrong reasons

Anytime I read about a new hydroelectric dam project in a relatively pristine, unique environment, I cringe.  It's a major change for an ecology.  We have so few pristine or nearly-pristine regions and environments left in this world.

Thus, the Chilean Supreme Court's approval of a dam project in Patagonia -- which is a relatively untouched environment, due to location -- sure makes me feel poorly.  I wish there was another way.  And I also ask, if this dam system is going to supply 20% of the country's electricity needs by 2020, how long are the transmission lines?  Which, by the way, are another disruption of what are probably fairly pristine mountain ranges.

Sigh.

Chilean court rejects opposition to Patagonia dam

Further back in time:

Protests after Chile backs giant dams in Patagonia's valleys

The Patagonia Without Dams advocacy group accused the commissioners of conflicts of interest and said the project was "destructive and illegal". It said the dams would flood at least 5,600 hectares of rare forest ecosystems, river valleys and farmland.

Regarding the transmission lines, from International Rivers: Patagonia

Electricity from these dams would be sent thousands of kilometers north to serve Chile’s biggest cities and its mammoth copper industry. More than 2,000 kilometers of transmission lines would require one of the world's longest clearcuts – much of it through untouched temperate rainforests found nowhere else on the planet – and would traverse a seismically active region strewn with volcanoes.

Pictures and background on what would be lost

Now, I suspect that not all the pictures are of places that would be affected;  my favorite picture is below.  And looking at the map, I think that perhaps more damage would be done by the transmission lines to the forests than the actual flooding of the lakes.  Still and all, I don't like any of it.  Given Chile's seismicity, this isn't a great place for nuclear power - solar could make a dent but couldn't cover all the need.   This is one place where international cooperation would be useful - build nuke plants in Argentina away from the seismic zones and transmit the electricity to Chile.  Transmission lines in Chile are going to be endangered by earthquakes no matter where the lines are.