The Great Struggles on Our Small Island
This month we make a call from our congregational website to continue to be aware of the importance of caring for our common home. It is essential to be clear about the various exhortations that invite us to care for our earth, to do everything in our power to prevent further deterioration, that the future of future generations is not at stake and that we can enjoy a more natural environment here and now.
Puerto Rico is a very small island, it has an almost rectangular shape, the greatest distance from east to west is 180 km and from north to south 65 km. Here, we do not intend to make an exposition of its geography, but to make clear how despite how small it may be the country has suffered many environmental damages, but it has never stayed with its hands crossed. It has fought against everything that has represented a danger and a threat to our environment. Efforts have been focused against the elimination of natural reserves, construction in protected areas, elimination of agricultural reserves, commercialization of residential areas, development in coastal and rural areas, as well as the displacement of communities. Amid these different realities that put the environmental wellbeing of the country at risk, what we want to highlight is the emergence and initiatives of alternative projects, which present another lifestyle that is more eco-friendly with our land, while denouncing everything that represents a threat to our life and that of the next generations.
In Puerto Rico, there are currently several struggles taking place, therefore we want to share the struggles of some organizations in favor of our common home, which are working for environmental protection and climate justice. There are multiple environmental groups that unite for a common cause among them we can mention the following: Camp Against the Ashes in Peñuelas (municipality), Para La Naturaleza, Casa Pueblo, Coalition of Organizations Against Incineration, Environmental Dialogue Committee, Amigos del Mar, Vínculo Animal, Sierra Club, Las Playas son Nuestras, National Environmental Law Association, Mi Playa Limpia, Ciudadanos del Karso, Conservación Conciencia, among others.
There are five environmental struggles that stand out in Puerto Rico’s history: 1) Peace in Vieques, which consisted of the departure of the U.S. Navy from the small island where they were conducting bombing exercises, which according to studies has had consequences in a high incidence of cancer in the population, 2) Anti-mining struggle, 3) No to coal ash from a company that generates coal-based electricity, 4) Opposition of gas pipeline construction, and 5) The beaches belong to the people, where environmental groups and members of coastal communities have fought against the destruction and privatization of the coasts of Puerto Rico.
In an article written for the newspaper “Claridad” in July, Maritza Maymi Hernández (political activist) pointed out:
“Environmental struggles in Puerto Rico have a history of at least six decades. The claims have been multiple and have consisted of, among other issues: the defense of forests, mountainous and karst areas against extractivist proposals; the protection of coastal natural systems of great scenic and ecological importance; the mobilization of communities against proposals for the incineration of solid waste and against the risks to health and the environment as a result of burning coal and other fossil fuels; the proliferation of telecommunications antennas; as well as the demand that animals be recognized as sentient beings and that they not live in captivity“.
It points out, and we fully agree, that although there are many groups and areas for which we watch over, all the struggles are for a single cause: “environmental protection, community welfare and the right to a dignified life in harmony with nature, particularly in the context of climate change. Every day we hear that we must do something because climate change is real, it is not something far away, much less a myth as we once thought. Today, we are suffering in our own flesh the consequences of all the damage produced to our environment, we are feeling it with the droughts, forest fires, the great floods, etc. The good thing here is that we are not at the margin of what is happening, although we lack much to do and to put into practice, there are many small groups, a lot of people doing great things, as Eduardo Galeano says: “We are a sea of little fires”.
Reference
Adriana Santana: Five outstanding environmental struggles in the history of Puerto Rico. Taken from https://pulsoestudiantil.com/cinco-luchas-ambientales-destacadas-en-la-historia-de-puerto-rico/
Maritza Maymi Hernández: “Una sola lucha” for environmental protection and climate justice, from https://claridadpuertorico.com/una-sola-lucha-por-la-proteccion-ambiental-y-la-justicia-climatica/
