Declarations by all three candidates running for the Jalisco governorship calling for modifications to the state-run emissions inspection program (Verificación Responsable) have gone down like a lead balloon with Jalisco’s incumbent chief, Enrique Alfaro, the key promoter of the system that went into full service in January 2023.
Pablo Lemus, running on the Citizens Movement (MC) ticket, has proposed that car owners should not pay for the annual checks, a move also endorsed by Claudia Delgadillo of the Sigamos Haciendo Historia (Let’s Keep Making History) alliance. Laura Haro, representing the Fuerza y Corazón por Jalisco (Strength and Heart for Jalisco) alliance, said car owners should obtain discounts on the inspection fee by taking their recyclable waste (plastic, glass, cardboard) to collection centers.
The candidates also raised the question of whether motorists should be fined for non-compliance.
Alfaro jumped immediately into the debate, urging the candidates to think hard before they make wild promises, saying that eliminating the charge would cost the state more than one billion pesos ($US60 million). He also noted that Verificación Responsable is cheaper in Jalisco than any other equivalent program elsewhere in the country, including Mexico City. The fee for the obligatory annual emissions check is 500 pesos.
“Jalisco’s commitment to confront climate change is serious,” Alfaro said. “By implementing this public policy, what we are seeking is to improve the air that we all breathe. All developed cities in the world have vehicle verification programs. And these programs also represent an indirect mechanism to discourage car use.”
The Jalisco governor said he does not want to comment on every proposal the candidates looking to replace him make, but will do so “when strictly necessary.”
Alfaro is probably most irritated by Lemus’ move to amend the program, given that the former Guadalajara mayor is his MC co-religionist, and the pair have shared a close relationship, although the governor recently has distanced himself from his party, saying he will quit politics after his six-year term ends in October. Lemus said he respects Alfaro but the two have “different styles and points of view,” adding that he has studied the economic impact of eliminating the Verificación Responsable charge and considers the move viable.