During Border Environmental Conference
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| César Luna, left, policy advocate for EHC |
Environmental Health Coalition promoted the messages of environmental health and justice in the
San Diego/Tijuana border region during the Third Annual Meeting on the Border Environment, April 26-28 in Tijuana.
The conference, coordinated by The University of Arizona Latin
American Area Center, the Texas Center for Policy Studies and Projecto Fronterizo de Educación Ambiental, brought together more than 800 participants from the U.S. and Mexico for workshops
and conferences on binational border environmental
issues.
During the conference’s opening plenary session — a review of the border environment — Diane Takvorian, Executive Director of EHC, pointed out that the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), a free trade treaty involving almost all countries in the western hemisphere, would be socially and environmentally catastrophic. She advocated that allied groups oppose the approval of the FTAA.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the current trade agreement among Canada, the United States and Mexico has caused serious labor exploitation problems, damaged ecosystems, and endangered the lives of Mexican residents through toxic pollution resulting from industrial operations, she said.
Conference activities also included a working roundtable discussion of environmental health and justice issues moderated by César Luna, policy advocate for EHC.
The results of the roundtable included a recommendation that groups in attendance work with the Mexican government to draft a formal recognition of environmental justice issues similar to the one issued by President Clinton in 1994. The recommendations were presented to Mexican and U.S. government officials during the meeting’s closing plenary.