Climate

As heat waves become more frequent and intense, researchers and activists say the lack of precise data is leading to needless fatalities.

As the group prepare for Act 1.5, a Bristol festival aiming to have the lowest emissions of any big music event, Robert Del Naja says decarbonised touring is possible

As pop stars fly on private jets and haul stage sets around the world, with their fans collectively generating significant emissions via their own travel to gigs, Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja has said “it’s time to act” and address the environmental damage wreaked by live music.

A home town Bristol show on Sunday, titled Act 1.5 – a reference to the 2015 UN climate treaty that asked countries to keep global heating to under a 1.5C threshold – will be 100% powered by renewable energy, in what the band say is a “world first” for an event of its scale. Thirty thousand fans will attend the one-day festival, which also features the US rapper Killer Mike, the Irish folk group Lankum and the actor Samantha Morton’s solo music.

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The calendar says it is still WINTER

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At the Kisho Jinja weather shrine in Tokyo, worshippers come to pray for respite from extreme weather events fuelled by the climate crisis

Amid the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, the Kisho Jinja weather shrine has become a destination for a new and unusual kind of pilgrimage.

Described as the only shrine in Japan dedicated to the weather, it has seen a surge in visitors who clasp their hands together, bow their heads and pray for relief from yet another sweltering summer or destructive super-typhoon.

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A former Greenpeace official, he drew on his command of environmental subjects to persuade his bosses at the cable channel to cover climate issues.

A group of federal programs is aimed at helping America’s work force adapt to climate change.

A new study suggests that estimates of the health of the world’s fisheries may be too optimistic.

The most effective ones tend to combine several emissions-cutting strategies, not a stand-alone approach, according to an examination of 1,500 policies globally.

On August 13, Tropical Storm Ernesto rapidly intensified just before hitting Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The intensification and trajectory merited a hurricane warning for the Virgin Islands as well as the island municipalities of Vieques and Culebra. Despite not making landfall in either archipelago, Ernesto brought with it winds of up to 50 miles per hour (80.5 kilometers per hour) and up to 10 inches (25.5 cm) of rain to Puerto Rico. The next day, Wednesday, August 14, Puerto Rico woke up with 728,000 clients (almost half) without electricity, thousands without drinking water (because many communities rely on electricity to pump water), and flood warnings throughout the island. 

Fortunately, no deaths were reported due to the passage of the storm. But the fragile state of Puerto Rico’s energy infrastructure is not lost on anyone. Seven years after hurricane María devastated Puerto Rico and resulted in the largest power blackout in U.S. history (80% of power was knocked out and some residents didn’t get power back for a year), once again the island’s residents have been forced to experience a crippling power outage affecting at least half the population. Our population is forced to throw away perishable foods, cannot use dialysis machines for patients at home, and cannot cool their homes from the dangerous heat after the storm.  

Private electricity companies operate with zero accountability for non-compliance with minimum performance conditions 

LUMA, the private consortium in charge of electricity distribution, is not capable of reliably maintaining vital electric service on the island. The most recent proof of this prior to tropical storm Ernesto occurred in June of this year, when more than 340,000 subscribers were left without electricity in the midst of a terrible heat wave. This prompted the energy regulatory body, the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (NEPR), to demand explanations from LUMA for the 19% increase in power outages between 2023 and 2024.

And why so many outages? Laughably, LUMA says it took on the task of removing overgrown vegetation, since this is “the main cause of service interruptions in Puerto Rico,” a misleading statement according to the Center for Investigative Journalism (CPI). According to LUMA, if the foliage is not to blame, then the fauna is: mice, iguanas, cats, and monkeys are all suspected of causing the blackouts on the island. Everything except its own incompetence and negligence.  

It is infuriating that seven years after Hurricane María, after the $750 million cushion that taxpayers in Puerto Rico were forced to contribute so that LUMA could enter the market, after firing the experienced line workers and dismissing their union contracts, after at least seven increases in the electricity rates (after LUMA promised that there would be no such increases), Puerto Rico does not have reliable electricity at prices that the majority of our people can afford. 

One reason is that LUMA is allowed to operate in the most outrageous way possible, starting with all the irregularities mentioned above related to the contract and workforce, to its regulatory entities, the NEPR and the Authority for Public-Private Partnerships (AAPP), who are very soft in their oversight of LUMA.

LUMA fails by far in its performance metrics. For example, the average duration of blackouts in Puerto Rico between April 2023 and March 2024 was 1,414 minutes, or almost 24 hours (the average in the United States in 2022 was almost 6 hours). The NEPR established that for LUMA to be in compliance, it must not exceed 1,243 minutes (20.7 hours).

The CPI investigated to find out what would happen in case of non-compliance with the minimum performance conditions that would cause the cancellation of the LUMA contract, but the NEPR and the AAPP passed the hot potato to each other and avoided answering clearly and accurately how long LUMA can breach its contract without its being cancelled. At the moment, LUMA operates under an extension without a term to the original contract that expired in November 2022 granted by Governor Pierluisi, a contract that does not have any penalty for non-compliance to LUMA. It is truly crazy. 

What awaits Puerto Rico with Genera in charge of electricity generation?

After Hurricane María, the federal government and the Fiscal Oversight Management Board (FOMB, appointed by Congress through the PROMESA law), decided that the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) should be privatized before funds from FEMA and other federal agencies for grid reconstruction could be disbursed (read here, in Spanish the story of the politicization and slow-motion destruction of PREPA since the 1950s that led to the privatization of the energy system). This was an ill-advised move given the disastrous privatization experience with not one, but two water utility management private companies in the 1990s.

Back then, those contracts were canceled by the Puerto Rican government for failing to improve service and meet minimum performance standards. That was only possible because the privatization contracts had clauses that allowed Puerto Rico to rescind them in case of bad performance, and at least those two companies had actual experience in managing water delivery systems. But those lessons were not heeded, and in June 2023, PREPA handed over the operation of its generation fleet to the private company Genera.  

New Fortress Energy (NFE), Genera’s parent company, has no experience with renewables and specializes in methane gas. NFE highlighted four themes in their pitch as selected by the AAPP. First, they said, consumers would reap significant cost savings through fuel management and operations optimization. Second, they promised improved reliability and efficiency of the generation system with a focus on distributed energy and microgrids; Third, they said they would retire obsolete plants while simultaneously ensuring reliable, low-cost, and cleaner generation at load centers to support the transition to renewable energy; and fourth, they made a commitment to local hiring and plans to recruit, train, and incentivize employees.  

In a report this year to its shareholders, New Fortress Energy leadership stated its plan to replace the aging generating fleet in Puerto Rico with methane gas units, saying that solar power and storage would be complementary to the generation mix. Clearly, there is not a clear pathway for Genera to advance the transition towards renewables that is critically needed in the Puerto Rican grid and is also mandated by the 2019 Energy Public Policy Law. 

One year after taking over, Genera says that fuel management and operations optimizations will produce savings of $875 million between now and 2028 and that half of the savings would go to PREPA to reduce consumer bills. The company says it is focused on stabilizing and increasing generation, which fluctuates widely and often causes blackouts when aging generating units go out of service. But the fact is that Genera, like LUMA, does not have the personnel with the knowledge to operate and maintain the plants because they fired them, ignoring PREPA labor union UTIER’s collective bargaining agreements. And their specialization in methane gas means that they have an obvious incentive to promote fossil fuels and not renewables.  

After Tropical Storm Ernesto passed, the generation deficit that Genera seems unable to overcome was evident. On Thursday night after Ernesto, a fire at a substation left nearly 100,000 customers without service in the Carolina region. The next day, the Aguirre power plant in the south went offline, leaving around 100,000 more customers without power. To top it off, on Tuesday, nearly a week after Ernesto, another 100,000 were left without power during peak consumption hours in a repeat of the failures at Aguirre.

What do LUMA and Genera do with the money they receive from Congress and the people of Puerto Rico?

LUMA’s budget for fiscal year 2024-2025 is $693 million, provided by the government of Puerto Rico and earmarked for the operation and maintenance of the electric transmission and distribution system. LUMA also charges an annual fee to operate the system, the total of which is expected to add up to $500 million between 2021 and 2025. However, LUMA has postponed its maintenance plans, as in June it suspended plans to make improvements to some 100,000 lighting poles, repair underground circuits, and mitigate fires, a project valued at $65 million due to “budgetary problems.” LUMA says that in addition to those $65 million, they are missing another $45 million to be able to carry out the improvements.  

Genera’s contract provides $15 million for transition expenses and an annual fee of $22.5 million for the first five years, which will be reduced after the fifth year to a minimum of $5 million. It also includes incentives of up to $100 million for savings on operating expenses, compliance with occupational safety standards and environmental and fuel purchase recommendations. What the contract does not include are incentives or penalties related to meeting renewable energy generation goals of a minima of 40% by 2025, 60% by 2040 and 100% in renewable sources by 2050, as mandated by the 2019 Energy Public Policy Act.

Generation units will continue to be owned by PREPA because Genera will only be responsible for the operation, maintenance and eventual retirement of obsolete units, which raises much concern about the emphasis that Genera will place on the development of renewable energy. 

Puerto Rico needs renewable energy

The climate crisis, public debt, rate hikes, and dependency on fossil fuels strangle the bottom line for Puerto Ricans. The mismanagement and lack of oversight of the Puerto Rican energy system occurs in the context of an unprecedented climate crisis that brings more destructive storms to the Caribbean, which intensify rapidly in short periods of time, and which bring more rain.

The islands, sovereign or not, pay high and highly variable costs for fossil fuels, largely due to the volatility of their prices in global markets. Fossil fuels account for 94% of electricity generation in Puerto Rico. These costs are the main reason for the multiple increases in rates according to LUMA. Agreed. So, why not transition to renewable sources? Renewable energy can solve the uncertainty in the face of fluctuating fossil fuel prices.  

The following graph shows the cost per kilowatt-hour for residential electricity consumption in Puerto Rico and the United States. Clearly, these costs are much higher in Puerto Rico. These prices include increases in bills and fuel costs. 

Residential electricity rates costs have increased dramatically in Puerto Rico and are much higher than the average in the United States. Note the sharp jump just after Hurricane Maria and the upward trend since 2021. Energy Information Administration Form https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia861m/  Priorities must be established that benefit the people of Puerto Rico, not private interests

Another important context is that the FOMB, which has absolute control over Puerto Rico’s budgets and plans, prioritizes Puerto Rico’s creditors and not the energy system. In its fiscal plan to restructure PREPA’s debt, the FOMB recognizes that rate increases could be used to transform the energy grid into a modern, efficient, and clean (i.e., fossil-free) entity. But in the same statement they choose to use the money from the rate increases to pay creditors. One of the principles of a bankruptcy plan should be to give PREPA the necessary resources to provide quality electric service, so the board should set aside funds for this before paying creditors. 

LUMA, Genera, the FOMB, lack of accountability, climate change. The unsustainable situation in the electrical system and the risks to which it exposes the population of Puerto Rico have been aggravated by handing over the electric generation, transmission and distribution resources to private interests with zero accountability mechanisms, who were welcome with open arms to come and profit from the millions of dollars allocated by FEMA after Hurricane María. Even though Puerto Rico’s 2019 Energy Public Policy Act mandates substantial progress in renewable energy goals sources by 2050, it barely reaches 5% today.  

Currently, Puerto Rico has 14 billion dollars ($14,000,000,000) in federal funds to rebuild the electrical grid. The problem is not so much the availability of funds, but rather the implementation by the public and private agencies mentioned, which obtusely ignore studies such as Queremos Sol and PR100 that demonstrate the viability of reducing hydrocarbon imports while meeting energy demand in Puerto Rico. 

Clearly, the privatization of generation, transmission, and distribution into private hands has contributed to exacerbating the underlying problem, which is the stubborn insistence on hydrocarbons and the lack of investment in the transition to renewable sources. By handing over the grid to private interests, as recent administrations in Puerto Rico and the FOMB have done, they have enabled the parent companies of LUMA and Genera to profit from millions of federal dollars without having the authority or willingness to address the underlying issues in terms of the needs of Puerto Ricans. 

The energy crossroads in which Puerto Rico finds itself is complex, and here I have only outlined some of its characteristics. The solutions lie within a large and complex web of federal and Puerto Rican agencies, multinational companies, and communities in Puerto Rico, but they should follow a very simple logic: prioritize the stability of the electrical system to ensure its functionality both in everyday life in Puerto Rico and during emergency situations such as storms, hurricanes, and floods—events that will become increasingly destructive as climate change progresses. 

Here are some potential solutions:

• The combined $14 billion dollars available to LUMA and Genera must be spent wisely so that PREPA can be resourced to provide adequate electricity services; 

• NEPR and AAPP have to fulfill their oversight function, clarify the minimum performance conditions to maintain the LUMA and Genera contracts, and establish and enforce penalties for poor performance;  

• Respect UTIER’s collective bargaining agreements and rehire Puerto Rican union workers with the experience and knowledge to keep the system running;  

• The FOMB must allocate, in its debt adjustment plan, a sufficiently large amount to enable the transition of the AEE to a modern and efficient company, with a clear path towards compliance with the Energy Public Policy Act.  

• Integrate into the search for renewable energy solutions the community-led expertise and science in studies such as Queremos Sol and PR100, made up of broad coalitions of vulnerable communities, scientists, community-based renewable energy experts, and private sector actors. 

El 13 de agosto, la tormenta tropical Ernesto se intensificó rápidamente justo antes de pegarle a Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. La intensificación y trayectoria merecieron aviso de huracán para las Islas Vírgenes tanto como para las islas municipio de Vieques y Culebra.

A pesar de no tocar tierra en ninguno de los dos archipiélagos, Ernesto trajo consigo vientos de hasta 50 millas por hora (80,5 kilómetros por hora) y hasta 10 pulgadas (25,5 cm) de lluvia en Puerto Rico. Al día siguiente, Puerto Rico amaneció con más de 728.000 abonados (casi la mitad del total) sin servicio eléctrico, miles sin agua potable (debido a que muchas comunidades dependen de la electricidad para bombear agua), y alertas de inundación a través de toda la isla.  

Afortunadamente no se reportaron muertes debido al paso de la tormenta. Pero no pasa desapercibido el frágil estado de la infraestructura energética en Puerto Rico. Siete años después de que el huracán María devastara a Puerto Rico y resultara en el apagón más grande y extenso en la historia de Estados Unidos (80% de la población se quedó sin luz y algunas comunidades no se les restableció el servicio por un año), una vez más la isla se enfrenta a debilitantes apagones que afectan la mitad de la población.

Nuestra población se ve forzada a tirar a la basura alimentos perecederos, muchos no pueden usar equipo médico para dializar pacientes en casa, o no pueden refrescarse en sus hogares ante el calor peligroso tras la tormenta.  

Empresas privadas eléctricas operan sin fiscalización ni penalidad alguna por incumplimiento de obligaciones y niveles de servicio 

LUMA, el consorcio privado encargado de la distribución eléctrica, no es capaz de mantener de manera confiable el vital servicio eléctrico en la isla. La prueba más reciente previo a la tormenta tropical Ernesto ocurrió en junio del corriente, cuando más de 340.000 abonados se quedaron sin luz en medio de una terrible ola de calor. Esto preocupa al ente regulatorio energético, el Negociado de Energía de Puerto Rico (NEPR), quien recientemente exigió a LUMA explicaciones ante el incremento de 19% registrado en interrupciones en el servicio eléctrico entre 2023 y 2024.

¿Y porqué tantas interrupciones? Risiblemente, LUMA dice que se dio a la tarea de remover la vegetación descuidada ya que ésta es “la causa principal de las interrupciones de servicio en Puerto Rico“, declaración engañosa según el Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (CPI). De acuerdo con LUMA, si la culpa no la tiene el follaje, la tiene la fauna: ratones, iguanas, gatos, y monos son todos sospechosos de causar los apagones en la isla. Todo menos su propia incompetencia y negligencia. 

Enfurece que a casi siete años del Huracán María, del colchón de $750 millones que los contribuyentes en Puerto Rico fueron forzados a aportar para que LUMA entrara al mercado, de haber despedido a los celadores de línea cuyos contratos sindicales fueron desconocidos por LUMA, de por lo menos siete alzas en las tarifas por kilovatio-hora (después que LUMA prometiera que no habrían dichas alzas), esta es la hora que Puerto Rico no tiene luz de manera confiable ni a precios que la mayoría de nuestra gente pueda pagar. 

Y es que a LUMA se le permite operar de la manera más descabelladamente posible, empezando por todas las irregularidades mencionadas anteriormente relacionadas al contrato y personal, hasta las entidades fiscalizadoras, el NEPR y la Autoridad para las Alianzas Público-Privadas (AAPP), quienes son muy blandengues en su fiscalización de LUMA. LUMA incumple por mucho en sus métricas de rendimiento.

Por ejemplo, la duración promedio de los apagones en Puerto Rico entre abril de 2023 y marzo de 2024 fue de 1.414 minutos, o casi 24 horas (el promedio en Estados Unidos en 2022 fue de casi 6 horas). El NEPR estableció que para LUMA estar en cumplimiento no debe rebasar los 1.243 minutos (20,7 horas).  El CPI indagó para saber que pasaría en caso de incumplimiento con las condiciones mínimas de rendimiento que provocarían la cancelación del contrato de LUMA, pero el NEPR y la AAPP se pasaron la papa caliente uno al otro y evitaron contestar con claridad y exactitud hasta cuándo puede LUMA incumplir su contrato sin que el mismo sea cancelado.

Al momento LUMA opera bajo una extensión sin término al contrato original que expiró en noviembre de 2022 y otorgada por el gobernador Pierluisi, contrato que no cuenta con penalización alguna por incumplimiento a LUMA. Es una verdadera locura. 

¿Qué le espera a Puerto Rico con Genera al mando de la generación eléctrica? 

Después del huracán María, el gobierno federal y la Junta de Control Fiscal (en inglés Fiscal Oversight Management Board, FOMB) establecida por el Congreso mediante la ley PROMESA, decidieron que la Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica (AEE) sería privatizada antes de que pudiera recibir fondos federales de FEMA y de otras agencias federales para reconstruir la red (lean aquí la historia de la politización y destrucción en cámara lenta de la AEE que llevó a la privatización del sistema energético).

Esta fue una decisión imprudente, dado el desastroso experimento de privatización con no una, sino dos empresas privadas de gestión de servicios de agua en la década de 1990. En ese entonces, esos contratos fueron cancelados por el gobierno de Puerto Rico por no mejorar el servicio ni cumplir con requisitos mínimos de rendimiento. Eso solo fue posible porque los contratos de privatización incluían cláusulas que permitían al gobierno de Puerto Rico rescindirlos en caso de mal desempeño; por lo menos esas dos empresas tenían experiencia en la gestión de sistemas de agua potable. Pero esas lecciones no fueron tomadas en cuenta, y en junio de 2023, la AEE entregó las operaciones de su flota de generación a la empresa privada Genera. 

New Fortress Energy, la empresa matriz de Genera, no tiene experiencia en energía renovable y se especializa en gas metano. New Fortress resaltó cuatro temas de la propuesta seleccionada por la AAPP. Primero, señaló que lograría un ahorro significativo de costos en beneficio de los consumidores mediante la gestión de combustible y la optimización de operaciones. Segundo, que mejoraría la confiabilidad y eficiencia del sistema de generación con un enfoque en energía distribuida y microrredes. Tercero, que retirará centrales obsoletas, garantizando simultáneamente una generación confiable, de bajo costo y más limpia en los centros de carga para apoyar la transición a las energías renovables. Por último, dijo tener compromiso con la contratación local y planes para reclutar, capacitar e incentivar a los empleados.

En un informe este año a sus accionistas, el liderato de New Fortress Energy declaró su plan de reemplazar la flota generatriz obsoleta en Puerto Rico con unidades de gas metano, y que la energía y almacenamiento solar sería complementaria. O sea, que no se puede vislumbrar claramente cómo la gestión de Genera adelantará el mandato de un mínimo de 40% para el 2025, 60% para el 2040 y 100% de generación en base a fuentes renovables para el 2050, contenido en la Ley de Política Pública Energética de 2019.

A un año de asumir, Genera dice que a través de la gestión de combustible y optimización de operaciones producirían ahorros de $875 millones de aquí al 2028 y que la mitad de los ahorros irían a la AEE para reducir costos a los consumidores. La empresa dice estar enfocada en estabilizar e incrementar la generación, la cual fluctúa mucho y provoca apagones a menudo cuando las obsoletas unidades de generación salen de servicio. Pero el hecho es que Genera, al igual que LUMA, no cuenta con el personal con el conocimiento para operar y dar mantenimiento a las plantas porque los despidieron al desconocer los acuerdos de negociación colectiva del sindicato de trabajadores UTIER. Y su especialización en gas metano es un incentivo obvio para promover la ampliación de combustibles fósiles y no de fuentes renovables.  

Pasada la tormenta tropical Ernesto, el déficit de generación que Genera no parece poder superar quedó evidenciado. Durante la noche del jueves después de Ernesto, un incendio en una subestación dejó sin servicio a casi 100.000 abonados en la región de Carolina, y al día siguiente la Central Aguirre en el sur salió de servicio, dejando sin luz a unos 100.000 abonados. Para rematar, el martes, casi una semana después de Ernesto, otros 100.000 quedaron sin luz en horas pico de consumo cuando se repitieron las averías en Aguirre.

¿Qué hacen LUMA y Genera con el dinero que reciben del Congreso y del pueblo de Puerto Rico? 

El presupuesto de LUMA para el año fiscal 2024-2025 es de $693 millones, es aportado por el gobierno de Puerto Rico y está destinado a la operación y manutención del sistema de transmisión y distribución eléctrica. LUMA también cobra una tarifa anual por operar el sistema, el total de la cual se espera sume $500 millones de dólares entre 2021 y 2025.

Sin embargo, LUMA ha postergado sus planes de mantenimiento, ya que en junio suspendió planes para hacer mejoras a unos 100.000 postes de alumbrado, reparación de circuitos soterrados, y mitigación de incendios, proyecto valorado en $65 millones de dólares por “problemas presupuestarios”. LUMA dice que en adición a esos $65 millones, le faltan otros $45 millones para poder llevar a cabo las mejoras. 

El contrato de Genera le otorga $15 millones para gastos de transición y una tarifa anual de $22,5 millones durante los primeros cinco años, la cual se reducirá después del quinto año hasta un mínimo de $5 millones. También incluye incentivos de hasta $100 millones por economizar en gastos operacionales, cumplimiento de normas de seguridad ocupacional y recomendaciones ambientales y de compra de combustible. Lo que no incluye el contrato son incentivos ni penalidades relacionados al cumplimiento de metas de generación con recursos renovables como lo manda la Ley de Política Pública Energética. Las unidades de generación continuarán siendo propiedad de la AEE porque Genera sólo se encargará de la operación, mantenimiento y eventual retiro de las unidades obsoletas, lo cual contribuye a la preocupación en cuanto al énfasis que Genera pondrá en el desarrollo de energía renovable.  

Puerto Rico necesita energía renovable 

La crisis climática, la deuda pública, las alzas sin fin en tarifas y la dependencia en combustibles fósiles estrangulan a las y los boricuas. Todo este mal manejo y falta de fiscalización del sistema energético boricua ocurre en el contexto de una crisis climática sin precedentes que trae al Caribe tormentas más destructivas, que se intensifican rápidamente en cortos períodos de tiempo, y que traen más lluvia.

Las islas, soberanas o no, pagan altos y altamente variables costos por los combustibles fósiles, en gran parte por la volatilidad de sus precios en los mercados globales. El 94% de la generación eléctrica en Puerto Rico se lleva a cabo con combustibles fósiles. Estos costos son la razón principal de los múltiples aumentos en tarifas según LUMA.  De acuerdo. Entonces, ¿por qué no transicionar a fuentes renovables? La energía renovable puede solucionar la incertidumbre frente a la fluctuación de los precios de los fósiles. 

La siguiente gráfica muestra el costo por kilovatio-hora para consumo eléctrico residencial en Puerto Rico y Estados Unidos. Claramente, se puede ver que estos costos son mucho más altos en Puerto Rico, debido en gran medida al costo de comprar combustibles fósiles—algo que LUMA no controla.

Los costos de las tarifas residenciales por consumo eléctrico han aumentado dramáticamente en Puerto Rico y son mucho más altas que el costo promedio en Estados Unidos. Nótese el salto vertiginoso justo después del Huracán María y la tendencia al alza desde 2021.  Fuente de datos: Energy Information Administration Form https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia861m/  Las prioridades deben ser establecidas en beneficio del pueblo de Puerto Rico, no de intereses particulares 

Otro contexto importante es que la Junta de Control Fiscal, quien tiene control absoluto sobre los presupuestos y planes de Puerto Rico, prioriza a los acreedores de Puerto Rico y no al sistema energético. En su plan fiscal para reestructurar la deuda de la AEE, la Junta reconoce que las alzas en tarifas pudieran ser usadas para transformar la red energética en una entidad moderna, eficiente, y limpia (i.e., libre de fósiles). Pero en la misma declaración optan por usar el dinero del alza en las tarifas para pagar a los acreedores.  Uno de los principios de un plan de quiebra sería dejarle a la AEE los recursos necesarios para proveer un servicio eléctrico de calidad, de manera que la Junta debería reservar fondos para ello antes de pagar a los acreedores.  

LUMA, Genera, la Junta, falta de fiscalización, cambio climático. La situación insostenible en el sistema eléctrico y los riesgos a los que expone a la población de Puerto Rico han sido agravados por la entrega del sistema de producción, transmisión y distribución energética a intereses particulares sin fiscalización real, a quienes se les abrió las puertas para venir a lucrar con los millones de dólares asignados por FEMA después del Huracán María. A pesar de que la Ley de Política Pública Energética creó mandatos para incrementar sustancialmente la generación en base a fuentes renovables para el 2050, apenas llega hoy día al 5%.  

Al presente, Puerto Rico cuenta con 14 mil millones de dólares ($14.000.000.000) en fondos federales para reconstruir la red eléctrica. El problema no es tanto la disponibilidad de fondos, sino la implementación por parte de las agencias públicas y privadas mencionadas, las cuales obtusamente ignoran estudios como el de Queremos Sol y el de PR100 que demuestran la viabilidad de reducir las importaciones de hidrocarburos a la vez que se cumple con la demanda energética en Puerto Rico.  

Claramente, la privatización de la generación, transmisión y distribución a manos privadas ha contribuido a acrecentar el problema de fondo que es la necia insistencia en hidrocarburos y la falta de inversión en la transición hacia fuentes renovables. Con la entrega a intereses privados que los gobiernos recientes en Puerto Rico y la Junta han hecho del patrimonio energético, han posibilitado el que las empresas matrices de LUMA y Genera se lucren con millones de dólares federales pero sin facultades ni disposición de atender los problemas de fondo en función de las necesidades de las y los puertorriqueños.  

Soluciones

La encrucijada energética en la que se encuentra Puerto Rico es compleja y aquí apenas he esbozado algunas de sus características. Las soluciones radican en una madeja grande y complicada de agencias federales y puertorriqueñas, empresas multinacionales y comunidades en Puerto Rico pero las mismas deberían seguir una lógica muy sencilla: priorizar la estabilidad del sistema eléctrico en función asegurar su funcionamiento tanto en la vida cotidiana en Puerto Rico como durante situaciones de emergencia como tormentas, huracanes, inundaciones—eventos que serán cada vez más destructivos en la medida que el cambio climático avanza.  

Aquí propongo unas posibles soluciones 

• Los 14 mil millones de dólares disponibles para LUMA y Genera deben ser invertidos de manera prudente para que la AEE tenga los recursos necesarios para proveer un servicio eléctrico confiable;
• NEPR y AAPP tienen que cumplir su función fiscalizadora, clarificar cuáles son las condiciones de rendimiento para mantener los contratos de LUMA y Genera, y establecer y hacer cumplir penalidades por bajo rendimiento; 

• Respetar los acuerdos de negociación colectiva de UTIER y contratar a los trabajadores sindicalistas puertorriqueños con la experiencia y conocimiento para mantener el sistema en funcionamiento; 

• La Junta de Control Fiscal debe destinar, en su plan de ajuste de la deuda, una partida suficientemente grande como para posibilitar la transición de la AEE a una empresa moderna y eficiente, con una trayectoria clara hacia el cumplimiento de la Ley de Política Pública Energética.; 

• Integrar en la búsqueda de soluciones de energía renovable la experiencia comunitaria y la ciencia de estudios como Queremos Sol y PR100, conformados por amplias coaliciones de comunidades vulnerables, científicos, expertos en energía renovable a nivel comunitario y actores del sector privado.

Environment minister says severe drought is ‘aggravating’ factor as smoke engulfs Porto Velho city

The Brazilian government has deployed almost 1,500 firefighters to the Amazon as the most severe drought in decades is turning the rainforest’s usually moist vegetation into kindling and flames.

Despite a sharp decrease in deforestation since the president, Lula da Silva, took power in January 2023, there have reportedly been 59,000 fires in the forest since the start of the year, the highest number since 2008, according to satellite data from the National Institute for Space Research.

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August temperature records threaten to break as Oodnadatta in South Australia braces for 38C and BoM forecasts above 30C in Brisbane next week

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Australia is on track to face its hottest August on record as a global heating-fuelled “heat engine” brings spring and summer warmth to Australia’s winter, experts forecast.

Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino said the unseasonably warm weather was coming from a “heat engine” in Australia’s red centre, where clear skies in the coming week would drive maximum temperatures towards 40C, more than 10C above average, in northern SA, southern NT, and western NSW.

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With the largest US fossil fuel lobby group at the Democratic convention, some urge VP to prioritize crisis in her speech

As Donald Trump accuses Kamala Harris of waging “war on American energy”, some advocates are pressing the vice-president to embrace a bold climate message at the Democratic national convention this week.

Harris will have a major opportunity to lay out her key platform as she accepts the Democratic party’s presidential nomination on Thursday evening. Some are hoping climate features heavily in her speech.

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Just cutting carbon emissions will not prevent climate breakdown, says Susana Muhamad before Cop16 in Colombia

Humanity risks catastrophic global heating if it focuses only on decarbonisation at the expense of restoring the natural world, Colombia’s environment minister has said in the lead-up to the world’s key nature summit later this year.

Susana Muhamad, who will be president of the UN biodiversity Cop16 summit in Cali in October, said that a singular focus on cutting carbon emissions while failing to restore and protect natural ecosystems would be “dangerous for humanity” and risk societal collapse.

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Category 4 hurricane that devastated the islands of St Vincent and the Grenadines when it hit the Caribbean last month has left many traumatised

From the outside, it looks like a typical primary school in the multi-island Caribbean nation of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), with children’s voices echoing behind the distinctive green walls. But inside, washing lines sag with the weight of towels and clothes, and there are people of all ages: a baby frets on her mother’s hip, children squeal as they chase each other, teens play basketball, and elderly people sit on classroom chairs chatting.

This school in the district of Calliaqua is one of 20 on the country’s mainland, St Vincent, which were converted into shelters for those displaced by Hurricane Beryl, the category 4 storm which tore through the region in early July with winds of up to 120mph (193km/h).

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I’ve relearned the meaning of seasonality – and how fragile the natural systems that sustain us really are

A few months ago, when I received an email about an available allotment in my area, I struggled to remember when I had signed up for one. It turns out I had done so two years ago, fuelled by my envy for those with gardens during lockdown. Back then, all I wanted was a small bit of outdoor space that felt like my own, to plant flowers, herbs and, at a push, some chillies. A place where I could read and write in the sun, safe from distractions.

Now I was being presented a half plot of available land (125 square metres!) with an established apple tree in the middle – which I mistook for a cherry because of its pink blossom. “You’ll have to have a trial period, to see how you get on,” the woman showing me around said. She meant business. The plot, which was bigger than I could dream of, was beautiful but overgrown – getting it started would require proper graft. I wasn’t sure I had it in me.

Diyora Shadijanova is a journalist and writer

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July was warmer than 1961-1990 average and the 34.8C peak this month was very hot, but perceptions have changed

There has been a widespread feeling that this summer was a big letdown, unusually cool and even cold at times. But was it really so bad? There were some hot spells, and on 12 August temperatures peaked at 34.8C in Cambridge, which was remarkably hot.

British summers in the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s were far more likely to be thoroughly cool. And even the historic long hot summer of 1976 had only one occasion when 34.8C was exceeded, with a high of 35.9C on 3 July in Cheltenham, which set a new record at the time for the UK’s highest temperature.

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Satellite image analysis shows 329 hectares of forest cleared during development of factory in Germany

The development of a Tesla gigafactory near Berlin has resulted in about 500,000 trees being felled, according to satellite analysis.

The building of the German factory has been highly controversial and attracted significant protests, as well as prompting a debate about the trade-offs involved in developing a green economy.

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Simulated study shows southern ecosystems could be compromised by objects from South Africa, South America, New Zealand and Australia as global heating continues

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Antarctic ecosystems could be disrupted by animals, diseases and rubbish floating from Africa and Australia as rising temperatures melt sea ice buffers, new research suggests.

The study, published in the journal Global Change Biology, used a simulation of ocean currents to track the paths of virtual objects released from different locations.

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Countries in south most at risk, with rise likely to outstrip fall in cold-related deaths if global heating hits 3C or 4C

Heat deaths in Europe could triple by the end of the century, with the numbers rising disproportionately in southern European countries such as Italy, Greece and Spain, a study has found.

Cold kills more people than heat in Europe, and some have argued that climate change will benefit society by reducing those deaths. But the study, published in the Lancet Public Health, found that the death toll would respond slowly to warming weather and may even rise through people growing older and more vulnerable to dangerous temperatures.

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