In many countries, the fight against climate change and the transition to the use of renewable energies have been priority issues on the national political agenda. However, the Government of Mexico has acted against this objective, promoting a failed environmental policy with reforms such as the “Fuel Oil Law” and the “Blackout Law”, and with projects and programs that have deliberately increased the deforestation of our forests and the destruction of mangroves.
According to official data, Mexico is one of the 15 most polluting countries in the world. This in turn has had dire consequences, from a greater presence of natural disasters such as droughts in Chihuahua and Michoacán and floods in Hidalgo and Tabasco, to an increase in people dying due to respiratory problems caused by air pollution. Today there are more than 30 thousand Mexicans who die each year for this reason.
Although there are many bad decisions that this fourth-class government has taken in this matter, there are two that cause the greatest concern: 1) its insistence on intensifying the use of fossil fuels to privilege the state in a misunderstood concept of “energy sovereignty” and 2) highly polluting programs and projects.
As has already been widely commented, it is estimated that, if approved under the terms proposed by the citizen president, the constitutional reform in electricity matters would increase carbon emissions in Mexico by up to 65% by intensifying the use of CFE coffee machines that They work with fuel oil and coal and that would lead to the use of clean and renewable energies.
The pressure to rally this discussion in the Congress of the Union continues to increase, now there are 40 legislators from the United States who asked the Government of Joe Biden to give a clear response to the intention of the Mexican Government to limit private investment in the sector. electricity and the intention to openly violate the T-MEC.
On the other hand, I cannot fail to mention the criticisms that have been generated around the construction of the Dos Bocas Refinery in my beloved state of Tabasco, which have come to demonstrate with protests from global organizations such as Greenpeace that, on deaf ears , they have demanded the Mexican government to disengage from the industry based on fossil fuels.
Last week, Mexico arrived at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26), after initially refusing to sign the agreement against deforestation, despite the fact that our country is number 12 in terms of forest extension . What is a reality is that the “Sowing Lives” program, which in theory seeks to end deforestation, has actually increased it; According to official data, last year almost 130 thousand hectares of forests were lost while the poor National Forestry Commission had its budget reduced by more than 60%.
Mexico is already in the 10 countries with the highest levels of dismantling of forests, jungles and mangroves worldwide, this is just one more example of the enormous irresponsibility and lack of ecological awareness that this Government has shown.
Greta Thunberg once said “the climate is changing, so should we”, it is time for our government to understand.
@PerezSoraya
Economist
Between Numbers
Former President of the Federation of Associations of Economists of the Mexican Republic AC
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx