What is surely one of the best pieces of news of 2011, the courts of Puerto Montt in Chile have temporarily blocked the $2.9 billion HidroAysen dam project in Patagonia from moving forward. While far from a final victory, the block is a monumental win for ecologists, adventure lovers, outdoorsmen, environmental groups and human beings the world over. As we noted last month, there have been huge riots in Santiago which have gone almost completely unreported by US mainstream media, coupled with worldwide protest at the project — but still, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera’s administration has been determined to move the 5 HidroAysen Dams forward. Despite pleas from indigenous peoples that live in the valleys’ 15,000+ acres set to be flooded, the amount of corporate power pushing for the project was unheralded, so this court victory is (at least temporarily) one of the greater environmental victories of 21st century. Rejoice world, and if the corporate behemoths succeed in appealing this block (as you know they’ll try), please stay tuned…

via Yahoo!