The Environment

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s governor on Tuesday requested that the U.S. government waive a federal law to allow for more fuel shipments to the island amid concerns over a dwindling supply of diesel in the wake of Hurricane Fiona.

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba remained in the dark early Wednesday after Hurricane Ian knocked out its power grid and devastated some of the country’s most important tobacco farms when it hit the island’s western tip as a major storm.

Latino Rebels Radio: September 22, 2022

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A magnitude 7.6 earthquake shook Mexico’s central Pacific coast on Monday, killing at least one person and setting off a seismic alarm in the rattled capital on the anniversary of two earlier devastating quakes.

The eye of newly formed Hurricane Fiona neared Puerto Rico’s south coast on Sunday. already causing an island-wide power blackout and threatening to dump “historic” levels of rain.

On Wednesday, Latino Victory Project, a nonprofit group that champions progressive causes in Latino communities, launched its 2022 “Vote Like a Madre” campaign to mobilize Latina voters around the climate crisis issue ahead of the midterm elections in November.

We spoke with Latino TikTok content creators who are teaching their audiences daily eco-habits that are simple and inexpensive to develop, while also sharing in-depth knowledge about the science behind climate change

Near-record amounts of seaweed are smothering Caribbean coasts from Puerto Rico to Barbados, killing fish and other wildlife, choking tourism, and releasing stinky, noxious gases.

Climate activists are planning to disrupt the annual Congressional Baseball Game on Thursday afternoon. “It is unacceptable for politicians to literally play games while the planet burns,” one organizer told Latino Rebels.

The monarch butterfly fluttered a step closer to extinction Thursday, as scientists put the iconic orange-and-black insect on the endangered list because of its fast dwindling numbers. The group estimates the decline between 22 percent and 72 percent over 10 years.

For Latino Conservation Week, the Natural Resources Defense Council speaks with Forrest Cortes to talk about how he got his start, the importance of letting communities lead the way, and why Latino representation in the conservation movement is critical.

The profound Indigenous connection to nature has existed for centuries, including the dread and depression caused by environmental changes. Climate change harms Native people’s sensitive relationships to plants, water, animals, and land and threatens their way of life, including learned skills, customs, and traditions.

CHILE: The Governor of the Metropolitan Region of Santiago last Monday announced a protocol for rationing water in the capital to address a record-breaking 12-year drought.

Methane traps 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide. Its production pollutes the air we breathe, and more than 1.81 million Latinos live within half a mile of oil and gas facilities that release methane and other toxic emissions.

Puerto Rico is five times more likely to be struck by extreme rainfall today than it was decades ago. Given that the archipelago is uniquely susceptible to flooding and its location on the eastern edge of the Greater Antilles, Puerto Rico is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to the effects of climate change.

A leak of more than eight million company documents revealed how a mining company operating illegally in a Maya Q’eqchi’ town near the Caribbean coastline bought local police and Indigenous leaders, spied on journalists, classified residents as allies or enemies, and sought to expel communities from ancestral land.

The residents of Culebra first kicked out the U.S. Navy. Now they’re fighting against overdevelopment.

Dr. Hernandez believes that things will not change until Indigenous voices and knowledges are centered and heard.

Panama participates in a global business of agrochemicals that are harmful to health, the environment and water supplies. The companies—that import, export, manufacture and use them—operate with lack of transparency, without accountability by the authorities.

The community of Agua Caliente, one of 16 Maya Q’eqchi’ communities in the El Estor municipality, is demanding that the Guatemalan government give them title to their land and the right to determine how its natural resources are exploited.

On Monday, nonprofit public-interest environmental group Earthjustice released a statement condemning energy company AES-Puerto Rico for seeking to transfer ownership of its notorious coal plant in Guayama to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA).