Paid not to extract oil: Ecuador Sets Environmental Precedent
The idea of paying people not to do something is often met with unease and suspicion. However, sometimes it is the only realistic alternative when faced with the destruction of the environment. Even in the United States—a developed, first-world country—some farmers are paid annually not to grow crops in order to preserve soil quality, and this is only one example of many.
A similar program unfolding over the past few months has recently come to fruition. A group of countries—Germany, Spain, France, Sweden, and Switzerland—has agreed to pay Ecuador $1.5 billion out of an eventual $3.6 billion not to drill for oil in the Yasuni Rainforest. The oil reserve contains an estimated $7 billion of oil at today’s market prices, but it is located under one of the most biodiverse… [view entry]
