Costa Rica’s New President: No More Fossil Fuels
From this article on the phasing out of fossil fuels in favor of renewable energy:
Costa Rica’s new president Carlos Alvarado announced a ban on fossil fuels Wednesday, establishing the small country as a major trailblazer in the global fight against climate change, according to Telesur TV. “Decarbonization is the great task of our generation and Costa Rica must be one of the first countries in the world to accomplish it, if not the first,” Alvarado said during (an announcement event). “We have the titanic and beautiful task of abolishing the use of fossil fuels in our economy to make way for the use of clean and renewable energies,” he added.
Splendid news. Costa Rica is a wonderful country, with an incredible ranking healthcare and education, and virtually no political instability. Certain parts of the country are teeming with expatriated Americans (not that there’s any reason to want to leave the U.S., of course, ahem), while other parts play host to eco-tourists and surfers from all over the world.
The only qualifier I would throw into the president’s remarks is that the talk to ban fossil fuels is not really “titanic,” if we’re going to be completely honest. The country’s demand load coupled with its amazing renewable resources (mainly hydro), have resulted in long stretches of time on which not a single molecule of coal, natural gas and oil was burned. Renewable energy in Costa Rica supplied about 98.1 percent of its electrical energy in 2016. Moreover, it’s hydro is complemented by geothermal energy, biomass, solar power, and wind power.
Having said all this, let’s not minimize their accomplishment, and the example it sets for the rest of the world.
Craig,
Where are those rose tinted glasses you wear sold ? I would really love to buy a pair !
Costa Rica is in many ways an admirable little country, and very fortunate to be blessed with no winter and lots of hydro and geothermal power.
But let’s not get carried away !
Costa Rica has no industry to speak of, all manufactured products (even cement) are imported. More importantly over 48% of the countries population have no electricity connection to the national grid !
Despite an amazing raft of government incentives, there are less than 200 EV’s in Costa Rica, no EV buses, although there are two HFCV buses donated by Toyota on trial.
26% of the population lives in abject poverty, while the average income is $US 6,210. The 80,000 or so US citizens who live in Costa Rica add enormous value to the nations income. 67% of Americans expats collect Social Security checks via banks in Costa Rica. This coupled with added tourism, families visiting etc, makes each American expat worth the equivalent of 11 locals in the economic statistics. (the average domestic worker earns less than $9 per day).
Marcopolo should be proud.
He’s only off by ~63%. That’s pretty good for a propagandist of his ilk.
Costa Rica’s per capita GDP is $17,200.
To be fair, he claimed “average income”. The number he was using was from 2012. Costa Rica was hit very hard in the Great Recession, since ecotourism from the U.S. is it’s biggest industry. But by no means its only industry. They’ve been making a concerted effort to educate their entire population for decades now, and that is paying off. They have a rapidly growing medical equipment industry. Agriculture products are indeed their biggest export, but they also have a growing plastic products sector, fertilizers, building materials, and medical equipment.
They are a third-world country, yes. But even with the massive problem of refugees coming from the triangle, they are still growing rapidly, and enjoy a pretty good quality of life. Average life expectancy at birth of 78.7 (1.3 years less than the U.S. average, but unfortunately longer than an Hispanic U.S. citizen).
21% of their population is below the poverty line, a rate that is dropping steadily.
I went there a decade ago, and it was the most beautiful country I’ve ever visited. In the people there I saw national pride, hard work, and happy lives… It was a 3rd world country, but these people weren’t suffering in poverty. They were living in one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and tending their gardens for food and cooking with solar ovens, and walking a lot. I didn’t feel pity for them, I felt like they were a country on the rise.
Glenn,
The figure of $US 6,210 is the average income of Costa Ricans, this figure increases dramatically if you include all those US expats to $ 17000, while excluding all those Nicaraguans and other Central/South Americans living in poverty in Costa Rica. Costa Rica and most international agencies do not include the poorest 10% of Costa Rica’s residents from official statistics.
These undocumented migrants constitute nearly 10% of the total population, living as squatters, often in abject poverty, excluded from social benefits.
Costa Rican Congressman Ricardo Toledo in a passionate speech criticized immigrants who “come to rape and kill our women, rob our banks, steal and spread diseases to our sons and daughters in the streets.”
Although most Costa Ricans do not support Ricardo Toledo (he’s considered a Firebrand), his law for Costa Rica to close its borders to Nicaraguan immigrants and deny any acceptance for legal migrant status passed in an amended format.
But Ricardo Toledo expressed what Costa Ricans secretly feel. Nicaraguans have always been seen as inherently violent, where Costa Ricans see themselves as peace-loving. Nicaraguans are seen as poor, illiterate and uncultured, Costa Ricans see themselves as middle-class and educated. Nicaraguans are seen as mestizo and dark-skinned, Costa Ricans view themselves as “white.”
Even normally responsible publications like the Costa Rican Star as recently as last month carry articles calling for deportation of illegal Central/America migrants. Reports of rising violence by Costa Ricans against these ‘undesirables’, are publicized as little as possible for fear of hurting the tourist friendly image of Eco-Nirvana the nation has worked hard to cultivate.
Nevertheless, the level of hatred is growing.
My sources information regarding Costa Rica’s economy and social conditions, include agencies as diverse as the Costa Rican National Statistics and Census Institute, CIA factbook, UNHCR, World bank Review, OECD.org (Presentation of the 2018 Economic Survey of Costa Rica) Guardian, and Huff Post.
Glenn, like you, I like Costa Rica, and Costa Ricans. As I said, in many ways Costa Rica is a very admirable little country, trying very hard under difficult circumstances, and succeeding to an amazing degree.
Where we differ is I don’t believe poor (if quaint) people “tending their gardens for food” do so by choice, but economic circumstance. Nor do they “Walk a lot” out of choice, but due to a lack of transport.
Nor do I rely upon a short tourist visit, 10 years ago, as a basis for analyzing how local Costa Ricans are faring.
In 2017 the National Statistics and Census Institute reported more than 1.1 million Costa Ricans live in poverty, that figure did not include nearly half a million migrants.
While the Costa Rican government has worked hard to reduce poverty in urban areas, (and isto be commended for such programs), “extreme poverty” has continued to rise in rural areas. Over 11% of rural households live in extreme poverty. I don’t think these unfortunates own many ‘Solar Ovens’, and are certainly not ‘happy’.
In fact, according to the University of Costa Rica report, concluded eight of ten homes use gas cylinders for cooking, or burn wood. (alarmingly, 61% those homes report dangerous abnormalities with their gas cylinders).
It’s also difficult to understand a claim of “fossil fuel” free day’s, when 80% of the country cook with natural gas, and nearly half rely on fossil fuels for all house hold energy needs ?
However, we can agree Costa Rica is working hard to better itself, address social and economic issues in a responsible and positive direction.
But all of that is beside the point, my point was Costa Rica lacks the sort of climate and heavy industrial power demands of a first world industrialized economy.
The are no useful comparisons to be derived from using totally different circumstances.
I’m not sure on whose behalf such information the term “propagandist” could be applied, or of what sort of ‘Ilk’ ? Nor am I quite sure what organization (apart from yourself) you represent to which a “propagandist” could oppose ?
Glenn, I’m not trying to be impolite, but Craig describes you as a “Senior Analyst” which is a bit of a vague term, so I’m surprised by your willingness to discard any inconvenient information, and yield to the temptation of emotive abuse and name calling, not usually associated with an analytical thought process.
However, I’m glad you enjoyed your stay in Costa Rica. I think Craig would enjoy the beautiful Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve and especially the large Quaker influence in the region.