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Facing Environmental Charges For Removing
Plants and Animals From Protected Areas
Costa Rica Denies Blocking
Negotiation
With EU
Fuel Consumption Down
Study Finds
Lack of Regulations For Waste Management
Enjoying The Last Weeks Of Summer
Saving Biodiversity: Costa Rica's Example
Saving Biodiversity: Costa Rica's
Example
By Thomas L. Friedman
LIBERIA, Costa Rica - Sailing down Costa
Rica's Tempisque River on an eco-tour, I
watched a crocodile devour a brown bass with
one gulp. It took only a few seconds. The
croc's head emerged from the muddy waters
near the bank with the foot-long fish
writhing in its jaws. He crunched it a
couple of times with razor-sharp teeth and
then, with just the slightest flip of his
snout, swallowed the fish whole.
Visitors see amazing biodiversity all over
Costa Rica — more than 25 percent of the
country is protected area — thanks to a
system set up to preserve its cornucopia of
plants and animals.
Costa Rica insists economic growth and
environmentalism work together. So if a
chemical factory sells tons of fertilizer
but pollutes a river, this is not honest
growth.
The process began in the 1990s when Costa
Rica came to fully appreciate its bounty of
biodiversity — and that its economic future
lay in protecting it. So it did something no
country has ever done: It put energy,
environment, mines and water all under one
minister.
"In Costa Rica, the minister of environment
sets the policy for energy, mines, water and
natural resources," said Carlos M.
Rodriguez, who served in that post from 2002
to 2006.
When Costa Rica put one minister in charge
of energy and environment, "it created a
very different way of thinking about how to
solve problems," said Rodriguez, now a
regional vice president for Conservation
International. "The environment sector was
able to influence the energy choices by
saying: 'Look, if you want cheap energy, the
cheapest energy in the long run is renewable
energy. So let's not think just about the
next six months; let's think out 25 years.'"
As a result, Costa Rica hugely invested in
hydroelectric power, wind and geothermal,
and today it gets more than 95 percent of
its energy from these renewables. In 1985,
it was 50 percent hydro, 50 percent oil.
More interesting, Costa Rica discovered its
own oil five years ago but decided to ban
drilling so as not to pollute its politics
or environment!
As we debate a new energy future, we need to
remember that nature provides this
incredible range of economic services — from
carbon-fixation to water filtration to
natural beauty for tourism.
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