Struggle continues for opening Costa Rica national parks for geothermal exploration
Several groups continue to fight any legislative approach to partly opening National Parks in Costa Rica to geothermal development.
The struggle of groups proposing opening up Costa Rica’s national parks for geothermal development and those opposed to it continues.
A recent proposal to partly open the parks to development has been rejected by the environmental commission of the parliament in the country.
There are several groups, including municipalities, environmentalists and others that fiercly fight any potential geothermal development.
But, according to the Costa Rica Star, the fight to allow geothermal development in national parks is not over yet. There are various other legislative pieces in preparation that would allow the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) to use national parks for geothermal energy projects.
Environmentalists argue that parks should not be opened to energy exploration and exploitation as long as there is still potential for development outside of those parks.
There is also some notion that proposed legislation now implies possible changes on how parks are managed. Currently the national parks of Costa Rica have absolute protection from other uses.
Source: The Costa Rica Star