A month after Hurricanes Stan and Wilma delivered a one-two punch to southeastern Mexico, environmentalists are charging that the damage would have been far lighter if the region’s development had been carried out with conservation in mind. Further, they question the government’s willingness to alter development patterns so similar destruction doesn’t occur when the next storms hit—a problem, they claim, that could cripple the lucrative tourism industry. “Millions of people come to this region because of its natural beauty, but no one will come if it gets destroyed because of bad planning and disregard for the environment,” says Patricio Martín, southeast representative for the Mexican Center for Environmental Law (Cemda), a leading green group here. Hurricane Stan made landfall south of Veracruz on... [Log in to read more]