Environmentalists are concerned about a plan by the Mexican government to build the country’s biggest tourism development in 20 years in Baja California. The development, Nautical Steps, would encompass more than 2,500 miles of coastline, with the goal of attracting 1.6 million U.S. boat owners a year into a collection of new hotels and restaurants. Mexican President Vicente Fox says the project would improve living conditions in the region, and Victor Lichtinger, the country’s environment minister, says, “People say growth destroys the environment; I believe what really destroys it is poverty.” But greenies say the development will threaten the Sea of Cortez, an area chock full of sea lions, whales, dolphins, and other wildlife that was once described by Jacques Cousteau as the “aquarium of the world.”
