Environment Archive

Editor’s note: Guest columnist Neil Bhatiya is filling in for Michael Cohen, who will return next week. On Monday, President Barack Obama unveiled the final version of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) rules. The new regulations, a tweak to initial rules that had been released in June 2014, are meant to provide the framework for individual U.S. states in meeting emissions-reduction goals in their electricity sectors. In forecasting a 32 percent reduction in emissions by 2030 from 2005 levels, the plan relies on incentivizing the adoption of low-carbon energy sources nationwide, especially solar and wind power. As […]

In May, Costa Rica’s National System of Conservation Areas tested the use of unmanned aerial vehicles to monitor collect evidence of illegal fishing and poaching. In an email interview, Marco Quesada Alpízar, the director of Conservation International’s Costa Rica program, discussed Costa Rica’s fishing industry and fisheries policy. WPR: What is the current state of Costa Rica’s fishing industry? Marco Quesada Alpízar: Over 90 percent of Costa Rica’s fishing industry operates on the Pacific coast. The main fishing fleet comprises small-scale operations, composed of thousands of fishermen—4,000 to 6,000 in the Gulf of Nicoya alone—30 to 50 percent of which […]