Limited resources tend to influence energy policy through lobbyists from companies who wish to use the resources for profit. Usually governments are concerned with what companies want because they provide large percentages of tax revenue. Lobbyist from these companies will try to sway politicians into passing energy policies that will benefit the company rather than the country. Sometimes, limited resources of greater necessity are taken over by the government. This happened in Venezuela when Chavez had his government socialize the country’s oil industry. Greatly impoverished nations don’t usually benefit from the presence of limited natural resources because when these resources are utilized, they tend to be too expensive for the poor to afford. Therefore, the company (which is usually foreign) gets rich off of the resources while local populations remain poor.
Some issues I see in implementing technology in rural Latin America is conflict between local culture and the ideals of the companies/governments that are trying to use the technology in the region. Rural Latin America is also very remote, which means getting the technology to the final destination would be very difficult and dangerous.
i completely agree with the conflict you highlighted in that the ideas of local cultures differ from those of the government and companies. Its sad to see populations like this suffer from the decisions of government. Governments with this kind of decision power tend to make these kind of decisions. While this is happening, the companies are thriving off of the loss of the communities, who can't help themselves. The poor suffer due to the greed of the companies.
ReplyDeleteWell definitely social and economical conditions such as international companies can be barriers when developing infrastructure systems for rural Latin America; however some governments such as the brazilian one took advantage of the companies by making concessions with the private sector, and trying to develop a better economy together.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of Latin America, it is not that the resources are not available, because in general that region has several ways to produce energy, for example the Amazon river, or the Paraná river can serve as hydro-electrical energy sources, or the biodiesel can be used (like Brazil did); what actually happens is that the management of the resources in Latin America is not well done by the governments. (engr103)