Today’s Solutions: January 12, 2026

Costa Rica is the poster child for sustainable economic development. The Central American country generated 99% of its energy needs from renewable sources in 2015, and nearly repeated that feat again in 2016 after getting 98% of its electricity in clean fashion. So how is this all possible? Costa Rica benefits from the fourth highest average rainfall in the world, which helps to power its hydropower systems. Costa Ricans also use about one seventh of the electricity that Americans do, something we could all learn from.

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