Socio-environmental conflicts in Rio Grande do Norte from the construction of wind power projects
Wind Power, environmental impacts, Socio-environmental conflicts
In Brazil, the state of Rio Grande do Norte has been notable in the last ten years, due to the increasing rise of wind energy exploration. The official discourse of think tanks shows that the coastal winds are the driving force for local and regional development, through the activity, in a "clean" and sustainable way. They generate employment and income at the same time, together with the idea of minimum environmental impact and minimum negative externalities. The literature on the presence of wind power projects, especially the one that shows the European experience, points to another perspective. That is, for the existence of negative effects and impacts in the places of installation of wind farms, namely, generating a dispute with other economic activities such as tourism and fishing, and with strong social and environmental impacts, such as changing the dynamics of communities the degradation and suppression of the landscape, and the direct impact on fauna and flora. Also in Rio Grande do Norte these impacts have been felt, which are the source of socio-environmental conflicts caused by the insertion of wind farms in several municipalities, accentuating the dispute over land occupation. From the perspective of some theorists, these conflicts erupt at the moment when the community or social interest groups act in defense for the use of the space they have always used, entering into a dispute against this occupation and against the occurrence of unwanted effects of this activity on the environment . That is, they occur when a community practice is threatened by negative impacts caused by the installation of wind towers. In this sense, environmental conflicts in a context traditionally characterized by clientelistic relations and control of land and power, which may configure a new approach to the wind conflict, not against its installation, but by the pressure to locate in spaces of more influential owners, who through the wind can guarantee an extra income. In summary, it is objective to identify the actors involved, to address the specificity of these conflicts and the visibility they take on the public agenda.