John Kerry, US Climate Representative, defends clean energy before AMLO´s electric reform

“The move to a clean economy is a bigger change than the industrial revolution,” Kerry said.

Mexico City, October 19, 2021 (EFE) .- The US special presidential envoy for the Climate, John Kerry, defended wind and solar energy on Monday before Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, whose electricity reform proposal has been singled out for relegating clean energy alternatives.

“Taking action in all sectors of the economy and moving to a zero-emission economy offers opportunities and is the best thing for our lives, ” said Kerry at an event with López Obrador and senior Mexican officials in Palenque, in the southeastern state of Chiapas.

President Joe Biden’s special envoy stressed that the step towards a clean economy supposes a “change bigger than the industrial revolution” and he stressed that the jobs that have grown the most in recent years in the United States “are wind energy and solar panel technicians.”

“Scientists have told us without a doubt that if you want to curb the rise in temperature, if you want zero emissions by 2050, they have to be reduced between 2020 and 2030,” he warned.

Recibí a John Kerry, enviado especial del Presidente Biden para Acción Cliimática. Sostendrá reunión con el Presidente López Obrador en Palenque y conocerá el programa Sembrando Vida. pic.twitter.com/Axu0RiunDB

— Marcelo Ebrard C. (@m_ebrard) October 18, 2021

Kerry visited Mexico on Monday, October 18th, as the guest of López Obrador, who showed him how the Sembrando Vida program works, a government plan that provides 5,000 pesos a month (about $ 248) to farmers who plant trees on their land.

“We recognize that stopping deforestation and rescuing the ecosystem is fundamental,” said Kerry, who applauded that the López Obrador government is “paying attention to that.”

President Biden thanked López Obrador days ago in a letter for the “financing and implementation” of the program in Central America, and pledged to increase US “investment” in the region.

Kerry arrives in Mexico amidst controversy over López Obrador’s electricity reform proposal, which according to businessmen and environmentalists relegates to clean energy.