Frack U Mexico: Where reform means destroy

This is a familiar story because we have watched it all happen here. Only this story is in Spanish with English subtitles.

Raise your hand if you’ve seen the star of this show in your neighborhood. Is that you Ben?

Because the Eagle Ford Shale starts in Texas and reaches down to Mexico, I feel a little responsible. Could you please help distribute this to your Spanish speaking friends?

Energy ‘Reform’ in Mexico Will Only Pave the Road for Fracking
by Claudia Campero

In Mexico, as in many countries, information on amounts of recoverable shale gas reserves is uncertain. In 2011, the U.S. Energy Information Administration placed Mexico in fourth place worldwide. In 2013, we slipped to sixth place. Pemex, the Mexican state petroleum company, estimates the quantity to be even more modest. Regardless of how much gas lies beneath our feet, the consequences of the ambitious battle to frack our country is likely to be felt in many communities.

When it comes to hydrocarbon extraction, the context in Mexico is quite different from that in the U.S. In 1938, Mexican President Lázaro Cárdenas nationalized all oil and gas reserves. For the last few decades, Pemex has been responsible for all fossil fuel extraction in the country. This is central to the government’s income since it represents 32 percent of all federal income. Pemex is so important that it managed to escape the many reforms made to other sectors in Mexico when the country joined the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. However, powerful international energy corporations have been pushing for a share of Mexico’s energy resources over the last decade, and are currently already working with Pemex through service contract arrangements.

But they want much more. Read the rest at Common Dreams.