Despite declarations from the executive branch that the Costa Rican government will not pursue geothermal electricity development in national parks, the office of governing Citizen Action Party legislator Ottón SolÃs is working on a bill to allow it in three volcanic protected areas.
On Wednesday and Thursday, 51 countries filed their climate action plans with the United Nations, a key step toward reaching an international accord at the Paris climate summit in December. Altogether, more than 130 nations accounting for about 85 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions have filed plans.
Local businesses can apply for environmental loans ranging from $1,500 to $150,000, which must be invested in environmentally friendly technologies to improve efficiency. That technology includes solar panels, electronic ballasts, high efficiency diffusers and reflectors, air compressors, fluorescent lamps, LED lights, electric engines, cooling systems, boilers, low-energy vehicles and others.
While Costa Rica's emphasis traditionally has been on generating hydropower, the country has fallen woefully behind on its generation of solar power. Despite many obstacles, department store Francisco Llobet e Hijos decided to help lead the charge and show that going solar can provide significant savings.
Describing the "urgent and growing" threat that was not being addressed quick enough, Obama sketched the problems already facing people living in one of the United States' last wilderness frontiers.
On Monday, the Obama administration plans to release the finalized Clean Power Plan, the president's flagship policy to combat global warming. The plan is aimed at the electricity sector, which generates the largest single slice, 31 percent, of U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions.
The rule, if it stands, could substantially alter the U.S. energy landscape, driving the expanded use of "clean" energy while further diminishing coal's long dominance as a source of power for homes and businesses.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Hillary Clinton was set to lay out an ambitious plan Monday to invest in solar and other renewable energy sources if elected president, drawing a contrast with her fossil fuel-loving Republican rivals.
