Gore tells Mexico about global warming and Fecal pretends to listen

Al Gore came to Mexico City last week to speak to Fecal and students about global warming and the threats it poses to our generation. Believe it or not, Gore "has found a receptive audience" in President Fecal. I mean, whoever is responsible for Mexico City can only be so oblivious to the problems of pollution and environmental degradation. But still, it's nice to think that Fecal is getting something right, kind of.

While he might be totally all for what Gore has to say about saving the world and its people from bearing the full brunt of global warming's wrath, he still hasn't made the pretty obvious connection between sketchy oil production practices and environmental damage. Or if he has, he doesn't care to do anything about it. Probably because that would require, don't say it, making Mexico's Pemex oil company do things they don't feel like doing.

The Veracruz city of Coazacoalcos provides an apt example of such negligence. 40% of the city's 12000 residents are employed by Pemex, which has several oil ducts and production factories located in Coazacoalcos. Besides the threat posed by living so near oil ducts that, proven by last month's attacks, could very well blow up, the city's residents live along the banks of oil filled streams and have to breathe the clouds of polluted air emitted by Pemex's factories.

At times, says Mrs. Catalina, her eyes, nose, and throat burn from the contaminated air, but she insists: there's nothing that she can do. Courtesy of Diario de Xalapa (Oct. 5, 2007); Trans. from Sp.

She's right. With little available and affordable land in the area, she has little option of moving. As a result, the town has resorted to calling on government-owned Pemex to give the municipal government money that would go toward supporting basic projects such as improving Coazacoalcos' health services and installing adequate drainage systems.

Obviously, this is more than just an environmental/political issue, but that's exactly Gore's point, isn't it? He's always talking about how global warming and, I'm putting words in his mouth here, but, environmental harm in general, are moral issues. Maybe in his next meeting with Gore, Fecal can clean the wax, or maybe its pollution (SO clever), out of his ears and hear the part about how combating the Earth's demise includes at times, responding to interests besides those of oil companies.