Gabriel Boric, Chile’s 35-year-old president-elect, can thank a number of constituencies for his decisive electoral-runoff win on Dec. 19 against right-wing populist José Antonio Kast. But few of the groups that favored the left-leaning Boric, who is scheduled to take office on March 11, backed him as uniformly and enthusiastically as those in the environmental and scientific communities. During the presidential race, Kast repeatedly downplayed the dangers of climate change, then attempted to soften his position when it became clear the stance was unpopular. Boric, by contrast, fully embraced clean energy, climate protection and other prominent environmental objectives throughout his campaign. He underscored this commitment on election night, taking aim at “sacrifice zones,” the heavily industrialized areas of Chile where severe pollution has been allowed to persist. And he affirmed his opposition to Dominga, a highly controversial mining and port project planned for northern... [Log in to read more]