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Introduction
maquiladoras, to hire managers who commute across the border
every day. However, at the state and national level, the potential for
misunderstanding is more prevalent. Distance and lack of familiarity
diminishes understanding. State and national government views
of the border tend to be complicated by issues of nationalism, rather
than what is best for border residents. On the U.S. side, the situation
is exacerbated by poverty. The border poor, like the poor elsewhere,
tend to be less politically powerful, and hence command less
time from politicians. The border also often gets tied up in the public
mind with issues related to illegal immigration. In the popular
mind, more fences and other controls are needed, not greater transborder
cooperation. The discussion is often tinged with racism. At
best, the policy adopted by state and national governments can be
characterized as benign neglect. Border residents often joke that
they have more in common with their counterparts in their neighboring
country than with their respective state and national governments.
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The second problem in policy coordination is the fact that the
U.S. and Mexican economies are at fundamentally different levels of
development. This means the two nations have different priorities.
In Mexico, the major environmental problems involve the provision
of potable water and sewage treatment. In the United States, these
more basic environmental goals have been largely achieved. Indeed,
potable water and sewage treatment are generally taken for granted.
Other environmental goals—such as improvement in air quality—
are now viewed as priorities in the United States. Such goals, however,
are something only a developed country is likely to have
sufficient resources to pursue. This is not to say that Mexico does
not view air quality as important. Mexico has implemented a major
effort to improve air quality in Mexico City. Oxygenated gasoline,
catalytic converters, vehicle inspections, and greater industrial
enforcement have all been implemented over the last 20 years in an
attempt to improve air quality in the Mexican capital. The result has
been a positive trend in air quality there. Lead, carbon monoxide,
nitrogen oxide, and sulfur dioxide levels have fallen, although ozone
remains a problem (Soto 2000). Along the border, a major environmental
movement has developed, and the Paso del Norte leads it.
The Joint Advisory Committee (JAC) on Air Quality
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