Mexico’s newly elected president, Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, is a climate scientist who has focused heavily in her campaign on the fact that she’s a woman while downplaying her Jewish heritage.
Nicknamed “La Doctora” because of her academic credentials, which include a master’s and Ph.D. in energy engineering, Sheinbaum is the first female president in Mexico’s 200-year history after attracting around 60 percent of the vote. She hails from the same Morena party as outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and was previously the first female mayor of Mexico City.
Sheinbaum will also be the first person of Jewish heritage to run Mexico, which is largely Catholic. Both her maternal and paternal grandparents are Jewish immigrants who came to Mexico from Bulgaria and Lithuania. She has appeared to distance herself from her Jewish heritage, however, making comments like “Of course I know where I come from, but my parents were atheists,” and claiming that she “never belonged to the Jewish community.”
Although she has not spoken much about illegal immigration during her campaign, she has indicated that she will continue with the socio-economic approach of her predecessor to
reducing migrant flows. This means she is unlikely to militarize border control and will probably align more with Biden than Trump when it comes to the topic of illegal immigration. She has said that she “will always tell [the U.S.] it’s better to build bridges rather than walls.”
Sheinbaum is also part of the climate cult and previously worked on the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. She is expected to
push for clean energy and transportation initiatives. She researched energy use in Mexico’s transportation sector for four years at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California while she was a Ph.D. candidate in the 1990s.
California Governor Gavin Newsom shared his excitement about having an ally for his misguided climate initiatives, writing in an emailed statement: “Sharing already strong historical, cultural, environmental, and economic ties with Mexico, California looks forward to continuing its fruitful relationship with President-elect Sheinbaum.”
Sheinbaum outlined green energy plans
It is believed that she will help Mexico pursue energy independence and maintain its state-owned electricity and petroleum monopolies. However, she may deviate from her predecessor when it comes to
renewable energy investments. For example, whereas Lopez Obrador embraced fossil fuels and backed state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, Sheinbaum outlined a nearly $14 billion energy plan that will shift to renewables like solar and wind power and build the infrastructure needed to support these alternatives. She also said she is aiming to add 13.7 gigawatts of electricity to Mexico’s grid; 1 gigawatt can power roughly 750,000 homes in the U.S.
She is also seeking to
modernize Mexican hydroelectric stations and add more than 2,300 miles of transmission lines. She said: “We are going to accelerate the energy transition. Going forward, we are working on this energy plan not just with an eye on 2030, but also through 2050 to align with international commitments on climate change.”
However, meeting her goals could be complicated as she will inherit Mexico’s biggest budget deficit since the 1980s. This will also make it hard to tackle some of Mexico’s other environmental challenges, such as the water crisis in Mexico City, widespread deforestation and drought.
The election was the biggest in Mexican history, with almost 100 million individuals registered to vote. It was a violent election cycle with more than 30
candidates being killed and more than 200 government officials, activists and candidates being shot overall since September as criminal organizations involved in human and drug trafficking focused on influencing local elections.
Sources for this article include:
TheNationalPulse.com
DailyCaller.com
TheGuardian.com
Politico.com
Bloomberg.com