Entire Book - Southwest Consortium for Environmental Research ...

A Snapshot of the Border
Interestingly, the peak of the EKC is estimated to be between
a per capita income of $5,000 and $8,000, which means
Mexican per capita income is such that economic development
is associated with improvements in air and water quality.
Moreover, as Mexico moves further along the EKC, Mexican and
U.S. preferences for improved air quality should converge.
1 See, for example, Grossman and Krueger 1995; Wheeler 2001; Cole, et al.
1997; and Hettige, et al. 2000. For evidence contradicting the EKC hypothesis
see Stern, et al. 2001.
POPULATION AND EMPLOYMENT
Perhaps the most significant stressor on the environment is human
population, so understanding border population trends is useful in
determining the environmental pressures faced by the border. Table
2 reports population statistics for 1990 and 2000 for the largest border
cities and for the overall border. Also included for comparison
are figures for Mexico and the United States as a whole. According
to the 2000 census, the largest U.S. city on the border was San
Diego (about 2.8 million), followed by El Paso (about 680,000).
The largest Mexican cities are Ciudad Juárez (1.3 million) and
Tijuana (1.2 million). Looking at combined populations, the largest
twin cities are San Diego-Tijuana (slightly more than 4 million) and
El Paso-Ciudad Juárez (slightly less than 2 million). These large
cities have stressed the border environment in general and air quality
in particular.
Population growth along the U.S.-Mexican border has varied
(Table 3). On the U.S. side, the border population grew by 21%
between the 1990 census and 2000 census, compared to 13% for the
United States as a whole. McAllen was the fastest growing city
(48%), followed by Laredo (45%). The only two U.S. border cities
to lag behind the U.S. average population growth were San Diego
(13%) and El Paso (15%). Population growth in Mexico is even
more dramatic. Total Mexican border population grew by 43%
between 1990 and 2000 while the overall population of Mexico
increased by 20%. The Mexican cities with the most rapid growth
29