ENERGY

Sheinbaum reconsiders AMLO’s anti-fracking stance

President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, a climate scientist, supports fracking on sovereignty and economic grounds. Photo: Mexican gov’t

The expansion of hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, helped drive an energy revolution in the US, with shale gas and tight oil production multiplying by 15 over the past two decades, from 2 trillion cubic feet in 2005 to 30 trillion in 2024 — now accounting for about one-third of total US energy consumption.

Much of that economic boom came from the southern US, in states such as Texas, Louisiana and New Mexico. But the story has been very different across the Rio Grande, even though Mexico’s northern states share many of the same natural resources. 

While the US moved from heavy import dependence to becoming a net energy exporter, Mexico has gone in the opposite direction and is, in fact, covering much of its energy needs with purchases from its northern neighbor.

The divergence is largely because…

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