Belize could open nearly its entire offshore territory to oil drilling under new policy guidelines now under debate, a prospect that has green advocates concerned for the future of the country’s marine ecosystems and all-important tourism and fisheries industries. The new guidelines, recently issued by the country’s Energy Ministry, would allow drilling in most of the Belize Barrier Reef, the longest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere. The reef system includes six Unesco World Heritage sites—among them the Great Blue Hole, a submarine sinkhole considered by marine filmmaker Jacques Cousteau to be one of the world’s top ten diving sites. “Belize is in no way, shape or form prepared to deal with the clear risks of offshore oil drilling or the inevitability of... [Log in to read more]