Costa Rica Energy – Our actions have serious consequences.

In the face of daily front page news regarding the catastrophic consequences of climate change it is surprising that so many real estate buyers coming to Costa Rica still insist on buying homes with air conditioners.

In the USA: “We use about one-sixth of our electricity to cool ourselves. That’s more than the total electricity consumption of India, a country whose population exceeds 1 billion. To get the electricity, we use nuclear energy and we burn oil and coal.”

Yes! It can be hot and humid living at the beach but if Mother Nature has designed your body so that you feel it’s impossible for you to live in those temperatures without air conditioning then perhaps you should question your decision to live there?

The wonderful thing about Costa Rica is that you can choose your weather. You can choose to build or buy a home at higher elevations, where the views are better and where you can enjoy a cool breeze without air conditioning.

In the USA: “According to the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute, shipments of air conditioners and heat pumps have tripled over the last three decades. The percentage of single-family homes built with central air has gone from 36 to 87.”

It is baffling as to why anybody needs air conditioning in the Central Valley where there is normally a pleasant breeze, the highest temperature is around 82 degrees and then cools off to the low 60’s in the evening. Having lived in ten countries, I can’t imagine a more perfect climate.

Unfortunately developers are listening to their customers and since so many buyers ask for air conditioning, developers are now including this in many of their homes in the Central Valley. Ten years ago, they would never have thought of it but…

Like many nations, Costa Rica has had energy problems in the past when we experienced some serious shortages and, although Costa Rica is making serious efforts to expand the number or renewable energy sources – the 15 new 44 meter tall Los Santos windmills are a great example (El Proyecto Eólico Los Santos (PELS)), building thousands of new homes and apartments with air conditioning will not help.

There are dozens of reasons – or should I say lies – we can come up with to justify our actions in the Middle East but the end result is that as we sit here reading this today, more than one million mostly innocent people have been slaughtered in the past ten years and millions more have been displaced because we choose to ignore the basic fact that we – primarily in the US – are using far too much energy.

And yup! You read that right! While we’re over there killing people, “The amount the U.S. military spends annually on air conditioning in Iraq and Afghanistan: $20.2 billion.”

This is no political argument, this is merely a request to carefully consider the consequences of our actions when you choose your home in Costa Rica and remember that the future of our children’s planet is in our hands.

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Written by Scott Oliver, author of 1. Costa Rica Real Estate Scams & How To Avoid Them, 2. How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate Without Losing Your Camisa, and 3. Costa Rica’s Guide To Making Money Offshore.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.