"A Climate Scientist Is Voted President of an Oil Country. Now What?"

"Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s next leader, is an academic and a politician. Here’s what her track record reveals."

"Mexico is the world’s 11th-largest oil producer. It has been gripped by a deadly heat wave. Now, it’s elected as its president a woman with a rare pedigree: a left-of-center climate scientist with a doctorate in energy engineering named Claudia Sheinbaum.

Ms. Sheinbaum is no stranger to politics nor to environmental crises. She was mayor of Mexico City, a vibrant metropolitan area of 23 million that faces a dire water crisis. She helped write the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports, the sweeping United Nations documents that have warned the world about the hazards of burning fossil fuels.

Ms. Sheinbaum will have to balance numerous, sometimes contradictory, tests as she takes office. Federal budgets are tight. Energy demands are rising. Mexico’s national oil company is heavily indebted. She’ll face the challenges of poverty, migration, organized crime and relations with the next president of the United States.

It would be folly to predict what she will do, but it’s worth looking at what she has said and done on energy and environmental issues so far in her career."

Somini Sengupta reports for the New York Times June 3, 2024.

SEE ALSO:

"A Scientist, A Leftist And A Former Mexico City Mayor. Who Is Claudia Sheinbaum?" (AP)

"Mexico Elects A Climate Scientist As President – But Will Politics Temper Her Green Ambition?" (Climate Home News)

 

Source: NYTimes, 06/04/2024