Thomas Friedman's column, (No) Drill, Baby, Drill, about Costa Rica's innovative move to "put energy, environment, mines and water all under one minister," which by the way no other country has ever done, got me to thinking if we could do the same here in the Philippines.
To put those departments under one roof might seem unusual. But Costa Rica did just that.
The results? According to Thomas Friedman, Costa Rica "now gets more than 95 percent of its energy from these renewables" [hydro-electric power, wind and geo-thermal] when in 1985, "it was 50 percent hydro, 50 percent oil."
What is more interesting, Friedman adds, is that "Costa Rica discovered its own oil five years ago but decided to ban drilling — so as not to pollute its politics or environment!"
This only goes to show that "economic growth and environmentalism work together." Now can we do the same?
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