Paul Ganster

Climate Change and U.S.-Mexico Border Communities

While the U.S.-Mexico border has been called a “third country” and has been identified as a distinct region (Anzaldua 1987), the challenges it faces are due in large measure to its high degree of integration into global processes of economic and environmental change. The border region is characterized by a so-called “double exposure” (Leichenko and O’Brien 2008)—meaning that environmental change in the region is driven by accelerated processes of global economic integration (such as foreign-owned industries and international migration) coupled with intensive climate change. It is critical to understand the drivers of climate-related vulnerability and capacities for adaptation in the region in the context of the region’s distinct history and contemporary challenges, shared climate regime, transboundary watersheds and airsheds, and interdependent economies and cultures.

Risky Borders: Traffic Pollution and Health Effects at US--Mexican Ports of Entry

Abstract Delays and community traffic problems associated with US–Mexican border ports of entry have been criticized for causing economic losses and increasing social stressors. This paper draws attention to an overlooked issue, the potential for adverse health effects associated with being exposed to localized high levels of traffic pollutants on border crossers and nearby communities at ports of entry along the US–Mexican border. The literature on health effects of exposure to near-road traffic pollution is incorporated into an analysis of the situation along the US–Mexican border. This paper synthesizes the information available regarding excessive wait times at the border and describes preliminary studies linking these delays to elevated traffic pollution levels. We frame exposure to traffic pollutants at US–Mexican ports of entry as an environmental justice issue in that the burden of exposures and associated risks of health effects is borne by nearby low income minority communities. Mitigation strategies are explored and reduction of border crossing wait times is identified as the most feasible action. Adverse effects of exposure to near traffic pollution are likely applicable to congested borders throughout the world.

Binational Cooperation and Twinning: A View from the US–Mexican Border, San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Baja California

ABSTRACT Institutionalization of binational cooperation is an important precondition for twinning to develop in border cities. Through a historical review of the San Diego–Tijuana region’s growth and binational cooperation, this paper explores possible areas of twinning. Generally, the cities and municipalities along the US–Mexican border have not experienced twinning, unlike their counterparts in some parts of Europe. Systems of legal federalism in combination with the US and Mexican federal governments’ lack of will to support local transborder collaboration help explain the absence of twinning in the San Diego–Tijuana region. This article concludes that in the era of globalization and regional development, it is important for local governments to be able to fully enter into twinning arrangements to take advantage of opportunities and address challenges inherent in the binational regional context.

Andean Border Integration: Report on a Seminar in Lima, Peru July 3-6, 1989

The Junta del Acuerdo Cartagena (JUNAC), the governing and administrative body for the Andean Pact, and the InterAmerican Development Bank (BID), sponsored a working seminar on border integration in the Andean region in early July 1989. The meetings brought together government officials, members of the private sector, persons from local border development agencies, scholars and individuals from international agencies. Most of the participants were from the countries of the Andean Pact--Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Colombia--but experts on border development from Central America, Mexico, the United States, Brazil and Argentina also were involved in the discussions. The purpose of the seminar was to explore border regional integration as a strategy for economic development and for the integration of the Andean Pact countries. The seminar consisted of an introductory section that discussed the purposes of the meetings from the perspectives of JUNAC and BID and presented a document to serve as a general frame of reference for discussion and analysis of integration of Andean border subregions. Also, methodologies for identification and design of projects for border integration, short term policies for border integration and development programs for border integration were discussed. The next section of the seminar consisted of presentations of case studies of Central American borders and the United States-Mexico border in order to provide a comparative perspective. Next followed a series of general and specific presentations that examined a number of projects and summarized actual developments in different border regions of the Andean Pact. These included the Peru-Bolivia border, the Colombian-Venezuelan border region, border regions of Ecuador, border regions of Peru, border regions of Bolivia and border regions of Columbia. Also presented were discussions of regional corporations, development corporations and multinational corporations in regional border development. The last part of the seminar was devoted to working groups considering general concepts of border integraton, short term policies for border integration and methodological factors for the study of Andean border regions. Each group produced a working document and these were all brought together and discussed in a general session to then form a summary document for the seminar.