Mexico Calls U.S. Border Fence Severe Threat to Environment

[babylonsister]

Mexico Calls U.S. Border Fence Severe Threat to Environment

By Manuel Roig-Franzia
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, November 16, 2007; Page A24

MEXICO CITY, Nov. 15 -- Plans to extend the U.S. fence along the Mexican border are "medieval" and would severely damage the environment, threatening hundreds of plant species and animals, such as Mexican gray wolves, black bears and jaguars, according to a Mexican government report released Thursday.

The 208-page report, which urges the U.S. Congress to seek alternative border protection measures, is the sternest reproach by the Mexican government over an issue that has increasingly divided two nations seeking cooperation in other areas, such as the drug war and commerce.

It is also the second time this week that the Mexican government has sought to influence U.S. politics. On Wednesday, President Felipe Calderón complained of "growing harassment" of Mexican migrants and urged U.S. presidential candidates to stop using them as rhetorical campaign "hostages."

The environmental report compares the proposed border fence to the Berlin Wall and the Great Wall of China and alleges that it violates a 1983 conservation agreement signed by Presidents Ronald Reagan and Miguel de la Madrid. It also accuses the U.S. Congress of "legalizing the abuses against the environment" by exempting the Department of Homeland Security from environmental regulations.

"The irony of the situation is that DHS could have cooperated with environmental regulations and built a structure cheaper and quicker," according to the report, which was unveiled by Environment Minister Rafael Elvira Quesada.

A DHS spokeswoman did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/15/AR2007111502272.html

[muntrv]

1. Memo to repukes: IT'S THE EMPLOYER, STUPID!!

[SidDithers]

2. Perhaps the Mexican Army can use the fence...

for target practice.

Sid

[kineneb]

3. another wall- to keep them out, or us in?

why am I having visions of Berlin, circa 1961?

[slackmaster]

4. Jaguars. Hmmmm.

Maybe we could use jaguars to guard the border.