The Harlow Report-GIS
2023 Edition
ISSN 0742-468X
Since 1978
On-line Since 2000
first published week of: 05/01/2023
Wind Energy in Mexico Is Not as Clean as You Think
by Michael Fox
Indigenous Zapotec farmers in Mexico’s Tehuantepec Isthmus say wind energy multinational corporations are polluting the water, trampling on local land rights, and even turning to violence to achieve their aims.
In March 2023, U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry met with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Oaxaca, Mexico, to discuss U.S.-Mexico collaboration over renewable energy. It was announced that the United States would commit to invest in at least 10 new wind and solar parks in the region — already one of Latin America’s top wind power hot spots.
But there’s a problem. These wind farms there have been largely constructed and run by foreign transnational corporations. Residents say that while on the surface these wind turbines are generating clean energy, they have been disrespecting communal land rights, stiffing local residents money owed for renting their land, and refusing to benefit the local community with discounted or subsidized utility rates. There are also major concerns for the local environment.
Read full story at The Real News…