Acquired by the United States from Spain in 1898, Puerto Rico became ratified as a Commonwealth in 1952. With a population of 3.2 million people, Puerto Rico has more people than 21 U.S. states and a territory of 3,425 square miles, making it slightly bigger than Connecticut. Located in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico is made up of 143 small islands, islets, and cays with one main central island bearing its name. Mostly mountainous, except for the coastal lowlands and the karst region in the north, which consists of formations of rugged limestone like sinkholes, caves, cliffs, and haystack hills, Puerto Rico is decidedly a rainforest, getting more than 100 billion gallons a year of rainfall, and providing a home to many species found nowhere else on earth. Among the territory’s native fauna is its unofficial mascot, the coquí tree frog, a tiny creature that makes a distinctive high-pitched chirping noise heard throughout Puerto Rico.
CLIMATE IMPACTS
Climate change has been especially harsh on Puerto Rico.
- As changes to the climate have exacerbated hurricanes, they have hit Puerto Rico extremely hard. Hurricane Maria, sweeping through Puerto Rico in September of 2017, brought as much rainfall in one day as the island usually sees in three months. It was the most devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico’s history, costing the island as much as $139 billion as it struggled to recover from all the damage.
- Sea level rise is another imminent danger to Puerto Rico, with 85% of its population living within five miles of a coast. Puerto Rico’s seas are about half a foot higher since 1880 when records began, and the rate of the growth is only accelerating, with scientists projecting 22 inches by 2060. This trend has made ports, roads, and other infrastructure extremely vulnerable.
- Sea level rise combined with storm surges causing flooding, which has a direct effect on Puerto Rican daily life as well as on tourism (making up 8% of the island’s economy).
- Climate change is also responsible for the collapse of the insect population in Puerto Rico’s rainforests, causing devastating effects to the island’s ecosystems. Insects are a vital food source for many of Puerto Rico’s creatures, including the coqui frog. As the creatures that eat insects die, their predators lose their food source as well, causing reverberations through the food chain. Insects are also vital to plant pollination, so loss of insects additionally harms the flora and fauna of Puerto Rico.
ENERGY
Puerto Rico consumes 70 times more energy than it produces. It’s energy customers currently face high prices as they primarily import fossil fuels for power generation. When extreme weather impedes the fuel supply, it leaves Puerto Ricans helpless without its own generating power as we saw win 2017.
- The 6.4 magnitude earthquake in Puerto Rico in January 2017 caused significant damage to its two largest power plants, followed by widespread power outages.
- This was followed by Hurricane Maria in September 2017 causing catastrophic damage (2,982 fatalities and US$90 billion in damages) including flooding, power outages and landslides.
- All this makes it especially vital for Puerto Rico to switch over to renewables generated locally. And, Puerto Rico has been rebuilding its power grid to transition to clean resources, including the largest solar and energy storage buildout in the United States.
- Yet, as the Environmental Defense Fund reported in 2022, even five years after Hurricane Maria, residents were still struggling with prolonged service disruptions that “create public health emergencies and threaten access to clean drinking water, medical services, food and other basic needs.”
- In 2022, fossil fuel-fired power plants provided 93% of Puerto Rico’s total electricity.
- Petroleum accounted for 63%, natural gas was 32%, coal was 8%.
- Renewables provided 6% overall, and of this solar accounted for about two-fifths, hydroelectric for about three-tenths, and wind power for about one-fourth.
CLEAN ENERGY GOALS AND CHALLENGES
Though Puerto Rico’s goal of 40% renewable energy seems far off, it’s worth mentioning that solar is growing extremely fast on the island, with their Electric Power Authority planning to add up to 1,800 megawatts of solar power and 920 megawatts of additional battery storage by 2025. It has also signed a separate agreement to add 201 megawatts of solar, wind, and landfill gas-generated energy to the power grid.
- Puerto Rico is home to both the largest solar photovoltaic facility and the largest wind farm in the Caribbean. Solar has increased from 0.5% of total generation in 2025 to 1.7% in 2021.
- In 2019, they adopted the Puerto Rico Public Policy Act, setting a goal of 100% renewable energy by 2050, with interim goals of 40% renewables by 2025 and 50% by 2040.
- In August 2020, the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB) moved forward in the direction of renewables, directing the procurement of at least 3.5 GW of solar and 1.36 GW of battery storage by 2025. •The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) procured 840 megawatts of new renewable generation capacity, but as of mid-2023 none of these projects have yet come online.
- The bulk of disaster recovery funds from FEMA and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - which largely didn’t even reach Puerto Rico until three years later- will go towards rebuilding Puerto Rico’s previous transmission infrastructure, including its fossil fuel-fired power plants which are largely located in already-overburdened and disadvantaged communities.
- Many environmental activists have argued that Puerto Rico’s colonial status and dependency on the U.S. paralyzes its climate response and hinders its ability to transition to clean energy. Hurricane Maria exposed the crisis of disaster colonialism in which disasters are exploited to deepen coloniality, injustice, structural neglect, and dependence.
- An understanding of the systemic mechanics of disaster colonialism is increasingly important as climate change makes extreme weather events more frequent and more intense.
LEGISLATION AND EXECUTIVE ORDERS
OTHER EFFORTS
- The Puerto Rican government is also trying its best to promote green tourism, even launching a Green Tourism mobile application, which promotes the areas protected by the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources.
- Formed in 2010, The Puerto Rico Climate Change Council(PRCCC) is, according to their website, a “collaborative, multidisciplinary and voluntary effort that brings together professionals from federal, state, private sector, academia, planners, community members and communication experts” to closely track the impacts of climate change on Puerto Rico and offer recommendations for adaptation and resilience. The PRCCC meets once a year and produces reports and resources on the latest climate science and implementation progress.
- They produced a 2013 Puerto Rico State of the Climate Report, which was adapted for the Fourth National Climate Assessment chapter on Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
- The PRCCC’s latest report is the 2022 Puerto Rico State of the Climate Report.
Law 33 of 2019, or the Climate Change Mitigation, Adaptation and Resilience Act aims to reduce GHG emissions in Puerto Rico and promote the transition to a renewable energy model. The Act established the Committee of Experts and Advisors on Climate Change, a nine member body tasked with advising the Governor and creating a Climate Plan for Puerto Rico.
COLLABORATION WITH STATES
Puerto Rico has joined twenty four states, committed to the U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of governors committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
