Cuba's Environment Threatened as Embargo's End Looms
by Eliza Barclay, Nomad on 01.10.08
The New York Times had a piece recently on what the end of the United States' economic embargo against Cuba could mean for the Caribbean nation's impressive successes in environmental protection. In a report last year, the World Wildlife Fund said that Cuba’s beaches, mangroves, reefs, seagrass beds and other habitats are most at risk by “the prospect of sudden and massive growth in mass tourism when the U.S. embargo lifts.”
Cuba has done “what we should have done — identify your hot spots of biodiversity and set them aside,” Oliver Houck, a professor of environmental law at Tulane University Law School, told the Times.
Cuba has the most biologically diverse populations of freshwater fish in the region. Its relatively large underwater coastal shelves are crucial for numerous marine species, including some whose larvae can be carried by currents into waters of the United States,
The story notes that what may prove to be decisive once the embargo is removed is Cuba's lacks of a grassroots environmental movement. In other words, so far, the country has few environmental groups or activists to stand up to what will likely be powerful interests in tourism development. ::Via The New York Times
Does anybody know about this site ( http://www.earthlab.com ) ? I have seen other environmental sites with carbon calculators like yahoo and tree huggers, but I am wondering what the deal with earthlab.com is? I saw they also published a list last month of the top ten greenest cities ( http://www.efficientenergy.org/Top-Ten-Green-Cities-in-the-United-States ). Does anyone know if this site is better than the others? Fill me in!
I took their carbon foot print test and it was pretty interesting, they said that I put out 4.5 tons of carbon, does anyone know about any other tests?
I've used a calculator at zerofootprint.net which seems to go into more detail.
I would not take what the NYT has to say on the subject seriously.
An end to the embargo will not mean the unbridled development of Cuba by USA enterprises, nor will Cuba's economic system change simply by virtue of an end to the embargo.
Cuba will not end its aggressive reforestation program, nor its many other environmental initiatives because the embargo ends.
Cuba's economy has been growing at a rapid annual pace in recent years through the government's partnering with foreign enterprises, though always retaining a majority stake in the partnerships. Its largest trading partners are now Venezuela and China. The president of Brazil is currently in Cuba to sign a number of trade agreements, which include food and energy. Israeli, Spanish, Italian, and firms from many other nations have already partnered with Cuban government enterprises. And Cuba has recently established diplomatic relations with the likes of Malaysia.
While Cuba will certainly increase trade with USA concerns, particular food, it will not roll over to economic interests because the USA ends the embargo. But the USA is unlikely to become Cuba's chief trading partner, as Cuba moved on economically after the Soviet Union subsidies ended and Raul Castro will usher further changes to the Cuban economy.