López Obrador announces agreements to guarantee US investments in clean energy

The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, during his speech at the Forum of the Major World Economies. MEXICO PRESIDENCY (via REUTERS)

The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, announced this Friday a series of agreements that guarantee US investment in the energy sector.

After months of discreet diplomatic work, two weeks ago meetings were held between the Government and 17 companies from the neighboring country specialized in clean sources for the generation of solar and wind energy.

The sealed commitments, advanced during the Forum of the Major World Economies convened virtually today, close a chapter of friction with the Joe Biden Administration.

The White House, concerned about the scope of the energy policy of the Fourth Transformation, opted at the beginning of the year to play the dialogue card.

“We appreciate President López Obrador's 10-point statement during the Major Economies Forum.

In that declaration, he made strong commitments to reduce methane emissions, channel renewable energies and support investments by the United States in Mexico's energy future”, celebrated the US ambassador Ken Salazar, who, like the climate envoy John Kerry, accompanied step by step negotiation.

The Mexican president has detailed a decalogue of actions with which, in addition to opening the door to these companies, he promises to explore "the creation of solar parks" on the northern border, "as well as the construction of energy transmission networks that allow exploring electric power to California and other states of the American Union”.

Those commitments, however, go beyond the bilateral relationship with the United States.

López Obrador has assured, for example, that the state oil company, Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), "will allocate an investment of 2,000 million dollars of its own resources and international credits at special rates to reduce methane gas emissions by up to 98% in exploration and production processes in the oil industry.

This is a key promise, since the company has doubled its pollution load in three years.

Also, he has stated, "a project to modernize 16 hydroelectric plants is underway, which seeks to renew turbines and increase clean energy production by 2,085 gigawatts per hour per year."

The underlying goals are shared by most of the world's large economies.

To begin with, "produce in 2024, at least, 35% of all the energy we consume in the country from clean and renewable sources."

Or one of the objectives of the 2030 Agenda. That is, "produce 50% of vehicles with zero polluting emissions".

"In this," he added, "the fact that just three months ago we nationalized lithium, a strategic mineral in the manufacture of batteries, will be fundamental."

The president has also indicated that his government is about to begin work on a photovoltaic solar park in Puerto Peñasco, in the border state of Sonora.

“We are advancing in the goal of achieving self-sufficiency in the production of fuels -gasoline, diesel and jet fuel-.

For this reason, since 2019 the modernization of six refineries began, we acquired one more in Texas and we are about to inaugurate a new refinery in Dos Bocas, Tabasco”, added López Obrador, offering some details of the energy plans for his six-year term.

“With the same purpose of processing all our raw material, all crude oil, in the country, and reducing fuel costs for consumers, a coking plant is under construction in Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico;

and we are about to start another coker at the Salina Cruz refinery, Oaxaca, which will allow us to transform fuel oil into gasoline and achieve a significantly lower environmental impact, that is,

The president has placed special emphasis on his reforestation plan, which he has come to describe as "possibly the most important in the world."

Without openly mentioning the social program Sembrando Vida, with which he intends to alleviate migratory flows from Central America, he has recalled that "the planting of a million hectares of fruit and timber trees" employs 420,000 peasants.

“This program means an annual investment of 1,500 million dollars from the public budget, but the most important thing is that it represents absorbing almost four million tons of carbon dioxide”, he indicated.

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