Environmentalists alarmed by Puerto Rico policies

[demoleft]

Source: ap

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Sweeping from lush mountain rain forests to pristine beaches, a corridor of land protected by Puerto Rico's last governor hosts dozens of rare and endangered species and was championed by celebrities who helped fight off resort proposals.

Now new Gov. Luis Fortuno has revoked the reserve as part of a drive to bring jobs and investment for the U.S. territory's struggling economy. And activists see a broader pattern of looser protection for the island's environment.

Fortuno's Oct. 30 order allows large-scale development inside the 3,200-acre 1,300-hectare) parcel of land immediately north of El Yunque, the only tropical rain forest in the U.S. National Forest system.
...
The Caribbean territory of 4 million people already struggles with overpopulation and the legacy of decades of industrial contamination. Polluted surface water and reservoirs mean Puerto Rico has a tenth as much fresh water per person as the U.S. mainland, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091116/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_puerto_rico_environment

[Wapsie B]

1. Sounds like a republican's wet dream.

Anything in the name of commerce! :eyes:

[lsewpershad]

3. Fortuno gov of PR

Is a puppet of big business. He is heading to being a one term gov. Hope he does not cause irreversible damage in his one term.

[KamaAina]

2. Fortuno is the Puerto Rican version of a repuke

he's with the pro-statehood New Progressive Party, an Orwellianism if ever I heard one. He is, in fact, a repuke for purposes of Presidential primaries and such. :puke: