How You Can Help Puerto Rico in the Wake of Hurricane Fiona

The entire territory of Puerto Rico is without electricity and thousands of residents are without access to drinking water after Hurricane Fiona barreled through the archipelago on Sun., Sept. 18. 

The storm brought unprecedented levels of rain, according to local reports. In the words of Gov. Pedro Pierluisi, the reported damages are “catastrophic.”

Many Puerto Rico-based environmental and community-based organizations are providing relief services across the island. Please consider supporting their efforts and spreading the word about their work:

• Casa Pueblo serves municipalities in the mountainous center of Puerto Rico
• Iniciativa de Ecodesarrollo de Bahia de Jobos (IDEBAJO) serves communities on the eastern side of Puerto Rico
• Taller Salud works with Puerto Ricans in and around Loaiza
• Brigada Solidaria del Oestet serves communities on the western end of Puerto Rico
• El Puente Puerto Rico is focused on the San Juan metro area 

Solar power is now providing an energy lifeline in Puerto Rico — where it is available.

• Rooftop solar and storage systems were critical during and immediately after Hurricane Fiona for the few Puerto Ricans who have access to them.
• “People who have solar panels and batteries have electric service,” reported Ruth Santiago, Puerto Rico-based environmental health advocate, attorney, and member of Earthjustice’s Board of Trustees and the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council.

Localized solar grids are a proven, climate-resilient solution.

• Puerto Rico continues to remain beholden to an obsolete centralized energy grid that cannot withstand the current effects of climate change, even after the sweeping loss of human lives and natural destruction brought by Hurricane Maria in 2017.

• It took nearly a year to restore electricity to all of Puerto Rico’s three million residents after Hurricane Maria. An estimated 3,000 people lost their lives.

• A network of rooftop solar panels is being built by the grassroots environmental coalition, Alliance for Renewable Energy Now (Alianza para Energía Renovable Ahora) — represented by Earthjustice — with the goal of revolutionizing the way Puerto Rico harnesses and distributes energy.

• “Distributed energy generation in Puerto Rico has proven its resilience through storms,” explains Raghu Murthy, senior attorney in Earthjustice’s Clean Energy Program.

• But the coalition has faced stiff opposition from fossil fuel companies that want to keep Puerto Rico reliant on oil and gas imports.

Additional ways you can help: Add your voice in calling on the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ensure investments fund a climate-resilient, 100% clean energy system for Puerto Rico.