Monday, June 12, measurements taken in Tlaquepaque found that lung-damaging ozone levels had spiked above 200 puntos imeca (Mexico’s standard for measuring urban air quality). Anything above 100 puntos imeca is considered hazardous to human health.
The state of Jalisco has a set of contingency plans which correspond to different imeca levels. Above 150 puntos imeca, the government implements Phase I, which consists of simply advising citizens to avoid using their vehicles and staying indoors with the windows closed. After the 200 mark has been reached, Phase II is put into effect — or at least, that’s the idea.
The chasm lying between Phase I and Phase II in terms of practical application was made clear this past Monday, when exactly none of the ameliorating measures detailed in Phase II were enacted. Why? Here are some the requirements listed for its implementation:
l 92-percent of cars would have to be pulled off the road (only about 8 percent of motorists being currently in compliance with emission regulations). That’s about 1,930,000 cars.
l All out-door recreation activities would have to be suspended.
l All construction works around the city would have to cease.
l All pollutant-emitting industries would have to shut down immediately.
Essentially, the only reality in which Phase II could possibly be put into action would be one where all the city’s inhabitants and operations were controlled by a massive On/Off lever.
“Evidently, we’re dealing with something new. [The spike in imecas] is completely atypical,” commented Adriana Rodriguez Villavicencio, general director of Jalisco’s Department of Urban Planning, Land Development and Environment.
In short, the sudden uptick in damaging levels of ozone caught the city completely by surprise. The following elaboration by Villavicencio seems to indicate a lack of any plan in the city’s contingency plan.
On pulling motorists off the road: “We have to completely revise our plan of action. First of all, we have to take cars off the road that don’t meet with pollution standards. If only we had a minimal program of verification, which isn’t the case as of this year.”
In regards to inducing industry to shut down its operations: “Procedures for modifying industrial output aren’t yet in place…We would need to have a database in which to collect the specific processes that are responsible for emissions.”
Finally, as it relates to the apparent inability of the government to properly respond to sudden crises: “The lesson of the day is that we came up short. We need to fix the response mechanisms that are gumming up the machine.”
A glimmer of hope came from a meeting of the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change and Villavicencio’s department, after the the two organizations claimed to have established “commitment to conducting a scientifically rigorous review wherein we create a system of early detection.”
Time will tell if there is substance to that claim or if it ends up being another statement by a ham-strung government body to file under “hollow promises.”