Dreaming of a Greener Future

April is Earth Month, and I couldn't help but think of a trip I took to Costa Rica a few years back. While traveling along a highway, I was struck by the wind turbines I saw from afar. Said to be the "greenest and happiest country on earth,"turns out that this tiny Central American country is the first in its region to build a wind farm. Remarkably, it has pledged to be the first carbon neutral country by 2021 and many believe that the Costa Ricans will indeed be able to meet this goal. It is estimated that 80% of its energy already comes from renewable sources, such as wind, solar and water. The diametric opposite of Costa Rica would be Puerto Rico. As I've mentioned in a previous entry, about 70% of the island's energy comes from petroleum and a mere 1% comes from renewable sources. With the uprisings in the Middle East and oil prices at an all time high, the current average is just over $1.00 per liter (about $3.79 per gallon) of premium on the island, such a phenomenon will further erode the economy and hurt consumers.

Gov. Fortuño had declared "a state of energy emergency" last year, and has been ferociously pushing for the construction of a 91 mile gas pipeline as a solution to help ease the island's dependence on oil. The Fortuño Administration's goal is to help diversify the island's energy portfolio by increasing the usage of renewable energy resources to 12% by 2015 and eventually to 20% by 2025. Although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently approved the gas pipeline ("el gasoducto") project, it has been mired in controversy. Construction has not begun as it has been denounced as environmentally hazardous, and has led many to question its safety and decried its cost-savings. To his credit, Fortuño is not entirely banking on the gas pipeline.

To help the island wean itself from using oil as its primary energy resource, a wind farm, the island's first, in Santa Isabel, and a waste-to-energy plant in Arecibo are currently in the pipeline. The government is also testing the possibility of converting algae into oil. These are some of the initial steps that Puerto Rico has undertaken to help meet those renewable energy goals. Disappointingly, the island is only the fifth largest solar thermal producer in the U.S (Spain is the worldwide leader), despite all the sun we get! Needless to say, the island has a very long way to go in achieving energy efficiency. It is playing catch-up in a world well-aware of the fact that oil is a finite resource, and the future lies in renewable energy.

Feeling the Blues

With Gov. Fortuño's term more than halfway over, and the 2012 elections coming up, El Nuevo Día recently conducted a survey asking people if their quality of life is better today than it was two years ago. The results were grim. More than half (56% to be exact) of those surveyed said they are worse off today than they were before Fortuño took office. Paradoxically, although the island's economy has been in a recession for the past five years, an estimated 42% said crime was the most vexing issue. Meanwhile, 34% of those surveyed said that unemployment and the economy (respectively) was what worried them the most.

As for Gov. Fortuño's performance, an astounding 39% gave him a failing grade, 19% gave him a "D," while only 6% gave him an "A." If the gubernatorial elections were to be held today, the Governor's most likely red party (pro-colony) opponent, Alejandro García Padilla would receive an overwhelming majority of the vote. This survey obviously does not bode well for the Governor, and the bad news does not end here. When asked if they expect their economic situation would improve in the next year or so, 60% said they expect things to get worse. If it's any consolation for Fortuño, the legislative chamber got only a 15% job approval rating. There is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel though. According to William Dudley, the President of the the Federal Bank of Reserve of New York, he "sees ground for cautious optimisim" in terms of the island's economy. However, he contends, the high level of unemployment (it was at 16.1% in February) remains "unacceptable." In comparison, the state with the most unemployed people was Nevada, at 13.6%.

Far from Ready

Regardless of whether one is a sympathizer of the red (pro-colony, pardon, pro-commonwealth), blue (pro-statehood) or green (pro-independence) party, everyone in Puerto Rico agrees on one thing: the island is far from ready to cope from the threat of a tsunami. In fact, only 11 of Puerto Rico's 78 municipalities are said to have most of the necessary emergency measures in place should one hit the island. More than half, 44 to be precise, of the municipalities are in low-lying areas and are at risk of being hit by a tsunami. In the aftermath of the devastating events which took place in Japan, Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands performed a tsunami drill this past Wednesday. The purpose of this UN-organized drill, called the Caribbean Wave Lantex 2011, was to test the emergency alert system and to better prepare citizens in the event of a natural disaster.

The first time I saw tsunami warning signs in Puerto Rico was during a visit last year to Aguadilla. While we were heading to the beach, I remember seeing an evacuation route marked by arrows, leading people up to higher ground. Although the island does not even come close to Japan's record, back in 1918, Puerto Rico did experience a 7.4 earthquake and was hit by tsunami waves nearly 20 feet high. The strongest we had was as recent as last Christmas Eve, when the island was rattled by a 5.4 quake. Since then, small seismic movements have been registered by both the Puerto Rico Seismic Network and the U.S Geological Survey (USGS). Perhaps because Puerto Rico has rarely seen earthquakes of immense magnitude, such as the ones in Haiti and Japan, most people are not aware that the island lies on two active tectonic plates and lies just south of the Bunce fault.

To both geologists and seismographers, it is no surprise to see Puerto Rico experience such seismic activity. However, when it comes to the general public, much work needs to be done to inform and educate people as most of the island's population is concentrated in the coastal regions. Gov. Fortuño recently announced a nearly $2 million investment to improve the emergency alert system. A Website, it's called "el día menos pensado" which literally translates into "the day least thought of," has also been created to help create more public awareness of the imminent threats of natural disasters. If this past Wednesday's tsunami drill is any indication, it shows that local emergency authorities have their work cut out for them.

(Photo Credit: The image above was obtained from Caribbean Business)

The Other Cables

Most of you may have heard of Wikileaks, the Website which has published troves of classified U.S State Department diplomatic cables. It has released documents dealing with countries (and U.S territories) from around the world, including Puerto Rico. The local papers didn't really cover much of what was said about the island, perhaps because it wasn't newsworthy. What was published mostly dealt with the status issue. According to the documents leaked by Wikileaks however, there was also talk of having U.S territories that receive U.S federal funding pay federal income taxes. If this were to become reality, it would certainly provoke massive demonstrations and mayhem. Given the crisis already taking place at the University of Puerto Rico, and the island's weak economy (it has been in recession for the past five years and 2011 GDP growth forecasts look bleak), it would lead to an explosive situation.

What Wikileaks published about the island was nothing scandalous, and nothing surprising. I can't help but wonder what (if any) those other classified documents would contain. So, I'll just put in my own two cents about what these possible cables might say. After all, for such a tiny island, Puerto Rico does generate quite a bit of news (mostly ignored by the U.S mainstream media though). Let me begin with corruption. This past Monday, Hector Martínez, a senate politician, was found guilty of taking bribes from a businessman and was indicted by a U.S federal court. Mr. Martinez joins a long list of cronies, from small town mayors to a former Department of Education secretary who was accused of stealing millions in federal funds. Corruption is a serious issue on the island and the most effective weapon to fight against it has been the presence of federal law enforcement agencies such as the FBI.

On the topic of corruption, let's now move on to the local criminal justice system. It has been exactly a year since the mysterious death of Lorenzo González, who was 8 years old when he was murdered. No charges have been filed. However, the local Justice Department has stated that the mother, Ana Cacho, is the principal suspect. As with most crimes perpetrated on the island, it looks as though local law enforcement officials will once again let this case fall through the cracks. One of the most egregious examples is the so called "masacre de Pájaros," where 12 individuals were accused of murdering three people. Although some were indicted by a jury on conspiracy charges, the judge decided to absolve all of the accused. In a strange turn of events, one of the defendants' lawyers was allegedly seen celebrating with the judge at a nearby restaurant afterwards. In the end, some of the accused were arrested by DEA agents and are now sitting in a federal prison.

Corruption and the criminal justice system on the island are not the only areas in which the U.S federal government is closely monitoring. The U.S Department of Education has also been keeping close tabs on the island's public schools, as a majority of them (86% to be exact) have not met the testing requirements set forth by the "No Child Left Behind" policy. In terms of higher level education, it has been nearly a year since the student strikes at the University of Puerto Rico began and there is no end in sight. In fact, the strike has taken a turn for the worse. The chancellor of the Rio Piedras campus was violently attacked this week while emerging from a meeting at the university.

Violence is a matter of utmost concern in Puerto Rico. Most murders are drug-related but robberies and other types of crimes are on the rise, especially since the economy continues to stagnate. According to the latest findings in the 2010 census, there was a 2.2% population decline on the island in the past 10 years. This is mainly attributed to the migration of Puerto Ricans to the mainland in search for jobs, and not a decreasing birth rate, especially for some of the most well-educated. If the economic and social conditions continue as they are, and as the U.S economy improves, there will be a further contraction of the island's population. In the political front, the two main parties seem to be mired in perpetual bickering, both internal as well as against one another. These are tough times for Puerto Rico, and the future looks grim, but without the presence, aid and oversight of the U.S federal government, things would be in much dire shape.

In conclusion, it's unlikely that the island truly wants to become a sovereign nation, given the significant amount of federal funding it receives. The chances of Puerto Rico becoming the 51st state don't look very promising either, given both the resistance to this idea on the island and in Washington DC. The majority on the island seem complacent with the commonwealth status though. However, there's another possibility which should be taken into consideration. Given the increasing national debt and its decreasing stature as a world economic superpower, perhaps the time has come for the U.S to free itself of Puerto Rico.