Neg Updates

Solvency
Enforcing environmental policies hurts the economic effectiveness of Maquiladoras AU, 13 (American University, private doctoral institution, research done on the effects of Maquiladoras; Border Waste Trade:
U.S. and Mexico; last modified: July 20, 2013; http://www1.american.edu/TED/border.htm) The impact of trade restriction is limited. The

Mexican government does not implement trade restrictions on products that are manufactured in the Maquiladora plants. There are no restrictions
on trade that are applied on the basis of how much toxic waste a company may be dumping into the environment. In addition, one of the basic rules of a Maquiladora is that it is allowed to import intermediate materials duty free as long as a percentage of the final product is exported. The

Maquiladora program permits 100 percent foreign investment and allows the temporary importation of equipment, components and inputs into Mexico on a duty free basis. It would be contradictory to these policies to impose trade restrictions based on toxic dumping.

Companies are leaving Maquiladoras Guidi 2005 (Maquiladoras: From Bad to Worse Latino USA , radio journal of news and
culture By Ruxandra Guidi, March 2005, http://www.cfomaquiladoras.org/english%20site/maquiladoras_demal_enpeor.en.html) Introduction by Maria Hinojosa]: Remember maquiladoras, the low-cost textile factories situated mainly along the U.S.-Mexico border? They were there to take advantage of the U.S. market to the north and cheap labor to the south. Aided by the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, the growing maquila industry held a lot of promise for young people in Mexico; promises of steady jobs, higher standards of living, and cheaper American products. But in the last couple of years, the maquila landscape has changed, dramatically, from bad to worse. Latino USA 's Roxandra Guidi visited maquila workers along the Texas-Mexico border and has our story: Anglica Morales points to a large dilapidated building on the outskirts of Ciudad Acua, across the border from Del Rio , Texas . Once, she worked at a factory like this one. She says that more than 1,200 workers lost their jobs here recently. One evening they were making sandals on the assembly line, the next morning, she says, they were laid off. Anglica: The
factory left for Honduras and they took all their machines and materials with them. They brought the managers too because they'll need them to teach the workers there how to be more efficient. Morales follows the doings and undoings of maquilas in Ciudad Acua every week as she makes her rounds. She's a promotora with the Comite Fronterizo de Obrer@s, or the Border Committee of Women Workers, a non-governmental labor rights organization. As part of her job Morales goes door-to-door in neighborhoods surrounding the maquilas talking to people about their working conditions, encouraging them to confront their managers, even as many are finding themselves out of work. Anglica:

Our country is going through a huge transition because Asia and Central America are offering [.] these affordable package deals of raw materials and manufacturing, which are lower in cost. According to recent financial data, Mexican hourly wages now average almost $3.00. By contrast, in China , the average is $.72. In the last four years, nearly 300,000 maquiladora jobs have fled Mexico , most of them headed for China , and primarily in the textiles and clothing manufacturing industries. Romn Cornejo is a professor of Asian
studies at the Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City . His research focuses on trade and political relations between Mexico and China . Roman: When Chinese products started to invade the Mexican market, when the competition increased for exports to the U.S. and jobs began to migrate to China , that's when our relationship began to change. Cornejo says he's worried about the growing racist sentiment towards the Chinese. He says that China is being used as a scapegoat for the current labor crisis in Mexico . But amidst the layoffs and the poor prospects for people along the border, there are new developments popping up in the maquila industry. Teresa Polo Ramos has worked in maquilas in Piedras Negras, located south of Ciudad Acua, for almost 20 years. During that time she's assembled thousands of Polo shirts, Levi's jeans, and even car seats. Last year she and a number of other women at the Dickie's factory lost their jobs. Polo Ramos is one of the few fortunate enough to have found work in Piedras Negras. She's now a part of a small worker-owned cooperative that was founded on the principles of the Mexican labor law: dignidad y justicia, or dignity and justice, which is also the name of the co-op. Teresa: We want to start making school uniforms for the surrounding area. But we still

need more sewing machines. Some of the machines we need for the big orders cost a lot of money. Ramos says they still have a long way to go before Dignidad y Justicia is able to make a profit and before the model can be replicated in other cities along the border. In the meantime, Ramos says she'll stay put and hope to continue to find work in Mexico Teresa: I have many friends who say "I'm heading north." But I tell them not to. They suffer more crossing the river and the dessert, struggling just as much to be able to find work. I always say there is work here in Mexico , so long as you search hard and make ends meet..

Maquiladoras not leading cause of Air Pollution Blackman 2004 (Maquiladoras, Air Pollution, and Human Health in Ciudad Jurez and El
Paso Allen Blackman, Michael Batz, and David Evans April 2003, updated July 2004, http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/10807/1/dp030018.pdf) Nevertheless, the broad message of this analysis is fairly clear. Air pollution from maquiladoras has serious consequences for human health, including respiratory disease and premature mortality. However, maquiladoras are clearly not the leading cause of air pollution in Paso del Norte. Moreover, most maquiladoras are probably less important sources of dangerous air pollution than at least one notoriously polluting Mexican-owned industry. Finally, we find no evidence to suggest that maquiladora air pollution affects the poor disproportionately.

Maquiladoras are improving in safety and productivity-Juarez proves Megan Richford 5/1/13 Executive Marketing Assistant for NAPS- offers administrative support
services for companies manufacturing in Mexico. JUAREZ CRIME DECLINES, ECONOMY AND MANUFACTURING IN MEXICO IMPROVING http://news.cision.com/north-american-productionsharing--inc-/r/juarez-crime-declines--economy-and-manufacturing-in-mexicoimproving,c9409177 The economy is reviving, residents are feeling safe, and businesses and investors would be wise to consider opening operations in Juarez. Manufacturing in Mexico is bustling and promises to thrive for years to come, and Juarez is ideal for its central location, inexpensive real estate and highly trained labor force. The city of Juarez has gained negative attention worldwide for its violence and drug cartel activity. Juarez has become infamous as the murder capital of the world, amid harrowing tales of turf wars between drug cartels. This notoriety has prompted law enforcement and civic organizations to cooperate and produce real change. Maquiladora manufacturing plants account for 60% of the jobs in Juarez, and commerce between Juarez and El Paso, Texas has historically worked in productive partnership. Today, Mexico's economy is recovering very well, and businesses, particularly manufacturing companies, are once again looking to Juarez for a low-cost manufacturing solution. Companies that had shuttered are returning, and new companies are much more willing to consider Juarez than was true a few years ago. Manufacturing in Mexico today, including Juarez, is safe, credible and growing . The population is young and well educated, with an average age of 27. In fact, Juarez has the highest literacy of any city in Mexico. After years of avoiding the streets, except when necessary, locals now celebrate a return to normalcy. The army and federal agents withdrew at the close of 2011, and these days, Juarez boasts several new high schools and sports facilities, as well as a myriad of new restaurants, stores, and nightclubs. Of course, problems have not all ceased, and residents are still healing from the long period of fear and uncertainty. Nevertheless, the strong economy and undeniable positive signs in community life deserve much praise and provide real hope. Data indicate that incidences of homicide, kidnapping, theft, and other crimes have all drastically declined in the past year. President Calderon continues to earmark funds to sustain crackdowns on the warfare between the cartels.

Hundreds of arrests have been made, and the local police force has made noticeable efforts to weed out and punish corruption among its ranks. Juarez is one of the premier locations for manufacturing in Mexico. Like Tijuana, its proximity to the United States enables businesses to avoid long transit times between production and distribution, and Juarezs central location is second to none. The environment is ripe for new businesses and investors to operate in Juarez and contribute to its flourishing economy.

Manufacturing moving from China to Mexico now Appliance Manufacturing 7/3/2013 News and information for international appliance
industry Report: Mexico Cheaper than China for Manufacturing Appliances http://www.appliancemagazine.com/news.php?article=1684614 Manufacturing in Mexico will increasingly offer cost advantages over manufacturing in China and other major economies, according to new research by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), which foresees manufacturing adding $20 billion to $60 billion in output to Mexico's economy annually within the next five years. The group said that, with the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), U.S. manufacturers of components for finished goods assembled in Mexico also stand to benefit. The group said Mexico's improving competitive edge is driven by relatively low labor costs and shorter supply chains, which results from Mexico's closer proximity to U.S. markets. Mexico also has an important advantage in its 44 free-trade agreements, which allow many of its exports to go into major economies with few or no duties. Mexico has more free-trade agreements than any other nation. The group pointed to tipping point that was reached in 2012. It was then that the average manufacturing cost in Mexico, adjusted for productivity, became less than the costs in China. BCG projects that, by 2015, average total manufacturing costs in Mexico could be about 6% less than in China and 20%-30% lower than in Japan, Germany, Italy, and Belgium. "Mexico is in a strong position to be a significant winner from shifts in the global economy," said Harold L. Sirkin, a BCG senior partner. "That is good news not only for Mexico, which relies on exports for around one-third of its GDP. It's also good for America, since products made in Mexico contain four times as many U.S.-made parts, on average, as those made in China."

Recent reforms to Mexicos labor laws solves the plan in its entirety De la Vega et al. 2012
(Oscar De la Vega is Office Managing Shareholder in Littler Mendelson's Mexico City office and has been an active spokesperson on behalf of several business committees, advocating for a labor law reform for many years. Monica Schiaffino is a Shareholder, and Liliana Hernndez is an Associate, in the Mexico City office. Eduardo Arrocha is Of Counsel in the Mexico City office and has over 40 years of employment and labor law experience in Mexico, having been the general counsel for a major international company for many years. Mexico Enacts Important Reforms to the Federal Labor Law. November 30, 2012. Littler.com. http://www.littler.com/publication-press/publication/mexico-enacts-important-reforms-federal-labor-law.)

Mexico's Federal Official Gazette today published a Decree that reforms and repeals various provisions of its Federal Labor Law (FLL). The reform will become effective on December 1, 2012, with some exceptions which are discussed below. The FLL had not been subjected to any substantial modifications since 1970. Accordingly, the reform has extensive implications for employers with operations in Mexico. Below we provide a summary of the FLL reforms and their potential impact. Employment Relationship The reform adds seasonal employment agreements and initial training agreements as new types of employment contracts, in addition to those already permitted under the statute (i.e., employment contracts for specific work and for a definite or indefinite period). The initial training employment agreements must

establish a time period of three months, as a general rule, and six months, for executive positions. Additionally, a probationary period of 30 days, generally, and 180 days, for executive positions, will apply to employment agreements for an indefinite term or to those exceeding 180 days. Notably, the reform adds the requirement that, in order to avoid employer liability, the opinion of the Joint Commission for Productivity and Training must be taken into consideration before terminating an "initial training employment agreement" or an employment agreement subject to a probationary period. Requiring the opinion of the Joint Commission for Productivity and Training will likely result in a bureaucratic and potentially conflictive process. Outsourcing The reform heightens the regulations on outsourcing (subcontracting) with severe implications to many employers. Under the new law, "outsourcing" is defined as follows: The subcontracting regime occurs when work is performed or services are rendered through workers hired by and working under a contractor's control, for the benefit of a customer, whether a legal or natural person, and the customer sets the tasks for the contractor and supervises the contractor in rendering the services or performing the contracted work: This type of work must comply with the following conditions: It cannot cover the totality of the activities, whether equal or similar in totality, undertaken at the center of the workplace. It is justified due to its specialized character. It cannot include tasks equal or similar to the ones carried out by the customer's workers. If these conditions are not met, the customer will be deemed to be the employer for purposes and effects under the Law, including as it applies to obligations related to social security. The reform initiative also establishes new requirements, including that the contract must be in writing and that the customer (or beneficiary of the services) must ensure that the contractor complies with its obligations under the labor law. It further provides that the subcontracting regime will not allow the transfer of workers from a customer to a contractor, for purposes of undermining any right under the labor law.

New labor laws increase workers rights Starner 1-3

(Thomas Starner, freelance writer and editor. New Labor Law in Mexico: Positive changes -- and potential pitfalls for U.S. multinationals -- are part of a new labor law in Mexico, which was 42 years in the making but, experts say, was much needed. Thursday, January 3, 2013. http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/view/story.jhtml?id=534354722).

They have been 42 years in the making, but American employers that either have facilities in Mexico or outsource work there should benefit from recent changes in the country's antiquated labor laws. Not everything in the new law may help, however, according to employment lawyers with extensive international experience. On the positive side, changes passed by the Mexican Congress (and that went into effect on Dec. 1) will help lower the cost of hiring and firing workers in areas such as back wages and the ability to hire and fire employees with much less red tape. Oscar De la Vega, managing shareholder in the Mexico City office of Littler Mendelson, says from a strictly financial standpoint, the law imposes a new one-year limit on any back wages employers must pay a worker who eventually wins a lawsuit over a wrongful dismissal. Under the old law, which existed since 1970, lawsuits dragged on for years and employers were liable for full back pay if they eventually lost no matter how long the case went on. Other key changes affecting American companies with employees or outsourced workers in Mexico revolve around temporary training contracts and probationary periods, outsourcing regulations, and discrimination and harassment, among others. "On balance the new law is a good thing, although there are some issues that are not very clear and could generate some potential liability," he says.

Maquiladoras working to improve workers living conditions Davidson 11

(Miriam Davidson. 16 year fellow at Alicia Patterson Foundation [One-year and six month grants are
awarded to working journalists to pursue independent projects of significant interest and to write articles based on their investigations for The APF Reporter, a web published magazine by the Foundation and available on the web. Winners are chosen by an annual competition. The competition opens in June and all entries must be postmarked by October 1. Applications are accepted from U.S. citizens who are print journalists with at least five years of professional experience.] Maquiladora

Workers Get Homes of Their Own. 2011-05-03. http://aliciapatterson.org/stories/maquiladora-workers-gethomes-their-own) From his office window, Tom Higgins looks across the city of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, and sees rows of new tin roofs shining on a hilltop. "I'm so pleased," he says, "that in all the crap and corruption of this world, the little guys got something good." Higgins has reason to be pleased. As manager of one of the 82 maquiladoras, or foreign-owned assembly plants, in Nogales, he helped pioneer a unique collaboration between his industry and the Mexican government to provide housing for low-income maquiladora workers. The first 500 single-family, workerowned homes were built last year, and another 250 will be finished by this summer. The program has been so successful in Nogales that it recently was expanded to other border cities. The housing program represents an unprecedented effort to confront one of the main criticisms of maquiladoras: the lack of housing and infrastructure for workers who make less than $10 a day. Many, if not most, of the more than 800,000 maquiladora workers in Mexico live in crowded squatters' camps surrounding the factories. Their shacks are cobbled together

from wood pallets, scrap metal, cardboard boxes, and plastic sheets. Few have indoor plumbing. Some, particularly new arrivals to the border, don't have water or electricity. "We all feel shame about the deplorable living conditions that still exist for newcomers," says Marco Antonio Valenzuela, head of the Mexico City-based National Council of the Maquiladora Industry. "Hopefully, this program will have a long-term effect toward eliminating the housing shortage on the border." Tom Higgins, who calls himself "a gringo with a Mexican soul," has worked in the Nogales maquiladora industry for 12 years. For at least half that time, Higgins, his former boss, and a handful of others also have worked to get the housing project built. It hasn't been easy. Higgins' former boss proposed the idea in 1990, after reading an article about the Nogales maquiladora industry in the New York Times Sunday magazine. It depicted a family living in a shack made out of cardboard boxes. The boxes had the name of his company's maquiladora printed on them. "I had pangs of guilt," says Douglas Chapman, the retired chairman of ACCO World Corporation, a Chicago-based office-supply manufacturer. "I felt that, if we're profiting and benefiting down there, we had an obligation to try to do something about this." Chapman and another senior ACCO executive then put up several hundred thousand dollars of their own money to start the Esperanza (Hope) Foundation. The idea was to use this money, as well as contributions from the Nogales maquiladora industry, to help workers make down payments on government-financed homes. "We wanted them to be nice houses, with bedrooms, bathroom, water, sewer, electricity, paved streets, sidewalks, and street lights," Chapman says. The foundation also required that the houses be fairly distributed among all qualified maquiladora workers in Nogales. The Nogales maquiladora industry had some objections to the plan. Maquiladoras already pay a 5 percent housing tax to the Mexican government, money that, in the past, has not been used to benefit their workers. Managers point out that their companies contribute millions to the Mexican economy through salaries, taxes, and local suppliers. They also don't like the fact that the foundation was set up to benefit all maquiladora workers, not just workers for contributing companies. Nevertheless, with the Esperanza Foundation leading the way, most of the maquiladoras in Nogales have agreed to help qualified workers make a down payment on a home. Some are doing it through the Esperanza Foundation. Others are giving all or most of the money directly to their employees. "It doesn't matter how they do it, as long as they do it," Chapman says. Getting the support of the maquiladoras wasn't the only hurdle the foundation had to overcome. Problems with an unscrupulous developer and the economic and political turmoil of the 1994 peso devaluation forced the project to be delayed and scaled back several times. Things finally came together in late 1995, when INFONAVIT, the Mexican government's low-income housing authority, agreed to finance the construction. INFONAVIT also agreed to make the houses affordable by easing its requirements to qualify for a home loan. Such loans had previously been out of reach for most maquiladora workers. Today, the $10 million San Carlos project, looking much like Chapman and Higgins envisioned it, is going up on a hill above a new industrial park on the east side of Nogales. The first 500 of the 511-square foot, two-bedroom homes were presented to their owners in a ceremony last fall. At least one worker at each of the 41 companies that belong to the Nogales Maquiladora Association - employers of some 90 percent of the 25,000 maquiladora workers in town - received a house.

Econ
Mexico Economy is high from the Industrial sector Reuters 7/25/13
("UPDATE-1- Mexican Economy grows at the fastest pace in six months". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/25/mexico-economy-igae-idUSL4N0FV41520130725) * Economic growth expands 0.45 percent month-on-month * Sharpest rise since November on strength in industry * Annual growth notches 1.7 percent MEXICO CITY, July 25 (Reuters) - Mexico's economy expanded in May by the most in six months, helped by strength in the industrial sector, and partially making up for April's slump in Latin America's no. 2 economy. Mexico's monthly gross domestic product proxy rose by 0.45 percent in May compared with the prior month, rebounding from an upwardly revised 0.71 percent contraction in April, the national statistics agency said on Thursday. Industry posted a 1.39 percent month-on-month rise, its fastest pace since June, 2012, while the services sector grew by 0.34
percent from a 0.54 percent contraction in the previous month. Mexico's annual economic growth slumped in the first quarter to its weakest in three years, prompting the government to cut growth estimates to 3.1 percent for the year, down from last year's 3.9 percent rate. But data earlier this month showed Mexican

industrial output rose at its fastest pace in nearly a year in May on stronger manufacturing and more robust construction activity.

Feminism
Feminist issues cannot be resolved within masculinised structures- they dont provide an alternative
J. Ann Tickner (professor of international relations at USC) 2001, Gendering World Politics. Pp. 119-120. The tensions and contradictions to which Stienstra has pointed are evident in the successes and failures of women's organizing. While the internationalization of feminism has been very successful in raising issues

of discrimination and has made considerable strides in getting gender issues recognized by international organizations, in concrete terms women are doing less well than men in all societies. There was a recognition at the Beijing Conference that, in spite of the attention to these issues over the twenty years since the beginning of the UN Decade for Women womens global status was not improving significantly. A significant reason for these inequalities, which continue, is that women must operate within "masculinized" organizations and structures.76 Since global organizing
is far removed from the realities of many women's lives, there is a sense that although social movements are used to promote solutions that criticize' the state, a return to the state is probably necessary to meet the dislocations and poverty generated by the economic globalization of the late twentieth century."

Rape is inevitable-ethnic conflicts.

Africa News. November 25, 2008. (Violence Against Women-Rape, Crime of Genocide. LN)
underscores the use of rape as a weapon of war as the most notorious and brutal way in which conflict impacts on women.

Rape is often used in ethnic conflicts as a way for attackers to perpetuate their social control and redraw ethnic boundaries because women are seen as the reproducers and care takers of the community. Therefore if one group wants to control another, they often do it by impregnating women of the other community because they see it as a way of destroying the opposing community. Rape and sexual abuse are not just a by-product of war but are used as a deliberate military strategy. From the systematic rape of women in Bosnia, to an estimated 200,000 women were raped during the battle for Bangladeshi independence in 1971, to Japanese rapes during the 1937 occupation of Nanking-the past century offers too many examples of the use of rape as a weapon of war. The most
recent examples include the 1994 Tutsi Genocide, the war tone zone of Eastern Congo and the Darfur crisis region.

Their advocacy works through the masculine structure of the state, only further oppressing women, co-opting any hope of solvency
Sjoberg Asst Prof of Poli Sci at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 2009 Laura Security Studies 18.2 informaworld
d/a 7/13/10

Feminists have analyzed traditional concepts and theories in Security Studies. In doing so, they have demonstrated the gender bias in security's core concepts, such as the state, violence, war, peace, and even security itself, urging redefinition in light of that bias.78 For example, Jacqui True has pointed out that the state is constructed on the dual gendered dichotomies of inside/outside and public/private.79 Women's lives and gender subordination are trapped in the inside, private dimension of that dichotomy, where abuse is invisible.80 From a feminist perspective, the state can be seen as a misleading construction that purports to protect its citizens but often perpetuates the subordination of women.81 A gender-based analysis, then, questions the unitary nature of state security by arguing
that secure states often only achieve security by sacrificing the security of some of their citizens, namely, women.82 In place of the focus on state security, feminists have suggested an approach to security that begins its analysis at the margins of social and political life.83

Seriously, never use the state for a feminist movement; it is entirely based on masculinity any enacted policy is automatically masculine; this card beats the entire advantage itself
Jones professor of international studies at the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE) in Mexico City 1996 Adam
Review of International Studies Cambridge Journals Online d/a 7/12/10 The Realist assumption of the state: The

classical paradigm places primary emphasis on the world system as a level of analysis. But the constituent actors in the Realist scenario are statesaccepted as givens, 'abstract unitary actors whose actions are explained through laws that can be universalized across time and place and whose internal characteristics are irrelevant to the operation of these laws'.14 Tickner contends that this image of state action is fundamentally 'antihumanist' in its reification of the state. But it is also masculinist in its privileging of traditionally male-oriented values: Behind this reification of state practices hide social institutions that are made and remade by individual actions. In reality, the neorealist depiction of the state as a unitary actor is grounded in the historical practices of the Western state system: neorealist characterizations of state behavior, in terms of self-help, autonomy, and power seeking, privilege characteristics associated with the Western construction of masculinity.15 It is clear why feminists tend to place such emphasis on the Realist state-as-actor formulation. No political
phenomenon has been subjected to such radical scrutiny and criticism in the past twenty years as the state, its composition, and its per- petuation in the spheres of production and reproduction. Feminism, as noted, rose to prominence alongside other radical critiques of the 1960s and '70s. It is hardly surprising, then, that the enduring

radical-feminist tradition, best exemplified by Catharine MacKinnon, has been most insistent on a re-evaluation of the state from a gender perspective. Radical feminism charges the domestic political order with negating the female/feminine and sharply
constraining the role and political power of women. When a class analysis is integrated with the gender variable, as it usually is, we have a picture of the state as compromised and conflictive, predicated on the structured inequality of women and the poor (two categories that intersect to a greater or lesser degree in much feminist analysis, as in the real world). MacKinnon writes:

The

state is male in the feminist sense ... The liberal state coercively and authoritatively constitutes the social order in the interest of men as a genderthrough its legitimating norms, forms, relation to society, and substantive policies. . . Formally, the state is male in that objectivity is its norm ... It legitimates itself by reflecting its view of society, a society it helps make by so seeing it, and calling that view, and that relation, rationality. Since rationality is measured
by point-of-viewlessness, what counts as reason is that which corresponds to the way things are.16 The analysis here stops at the boundaries of the nation-state, but the implications for feminists of an international system composed of such units are clear. So, too, is the important difference between such radical-feminist formulations and radical- Marxist critiques of the state. While Marxism has spent much of the past two decades exploring the state's potential to act with 'relative autonomy' from dominant social classes, MacKinnon and other radical

feminists reject outright the possibility of the state ever acting against dominant male / masculine interests. 'How- ever autonomous of class the liberal state may appear, it is not autonomous of sex. Male power is systemic. Coercive, legitimated, and epistemic, it is the regime.'17

Conditions in the masculine nature ensure the inevitability of patriarchy multiple warrants
Steven Goldberg, Is patriarchy inevitable? Men rule not because they are told to, but because it is their nature to do so, NATIONAL REVIEW, 11/11/96. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n21_v48/ai_18856959/. Men rule not because they are told to, but because it is their nature to do so. IN five hundred years the world, in all likelihood, will have become homogenized. The thousands of varied societies and their dramatically differing methods of socialization, cohesion, family, religion, economy, and politics will have given way to a universal culture. Fortunately, cultural anthropologists have preserved much of our present diversity, which may keep our descendants

from too hastily allowing their natural human ego- and ethno-centricity to conclude that theirs is the only way to manage a society. However, the anthropological sword is two-edged. While diversity is certainly apparent from anthropological investigations, it is also clear that there are realities which manifest themselves no matter what the varied forms of the aforementioned institutions. Because these universal realities cut across cultural lines, they are crucial to our understanding of what society by its nature is and, perhaps, of what human beings are. It is important, then, that we ask why, when societies differ as much as do those of the Ituri Pygmy, the Jivaro, the American, the Japanese, and a thousand others, some institutions are universal. It is always the case that the universal institution serves some need rooted in the deepest nature of human beings. In some cases the explanation of universality is obvious (e.g., why every society has methods of food gathering). But there are other universalities which are apparent, though without any obvious explanation. Of the thousands of societies on which we have any evidence stronger than myth (a form of evidence that would have us believe in cyclopes), there is no evidence that there has ever been a society failing to exhibit three institutions: 1. Primary hierarchies always filled primarily by men. A Queen Victoria or a Golda Meir is always an exception and is always surrounded by a government of men. Indeed, the constraints of royal lineage may produce more female societal leaders than does democracy -there were more female heads of state in the first two-thirds of the sixteenth century than there were in the first two-thirds of the twentieth. 2. The highest status roles are male. There are societies in which the women do most of the important economic work and rear the children, while the men seem mostly to hang loose. But, in such societies, hanging loose is given higher status than any non-maternal role primarily served by women. No doubt this is partly due to the fact that the males hold the positions of power. However, it is also likely that high-status roles are male not primarily because they are male (ditch-digging is male and low status), but because they are high status. The high status roles are male because they possess -- for whatever socially determined reason in whichever specific society -- high status. This high status exerts a more powerful influence on males than it does on females. As a result, males are more willing to sacrifice life's other rewards for status dominance than are females. In their Not in Our Genes, Richard Lewontin, Leon Kamin, and Stephen Rose -- who, along with Stephen Jay Gould are the best-known defenders of the view that emphasizes the role of environment and deemphasizes that of heredity -- attempt to find fault with my work by pointing out that most family doctors in the Soviet Union are women. However, they acknowledge that in the Soviet Union "family doctoring [had] lower status than in the United States." Which is precisely the point. No one doubts that women can be doctors. The question is why doctors (or weavers, or load bearers, etc.) are primarily women only when being a doctor is given lower status than are certain roles played mostly by men -- and furthermore, why, even when this is the case (as in Russia) the upper hierarchical positions relevant to that specific area are held by men. 3. Dominance in male - female relationships is always associated with males. "Male dominance" refers to the feeling, of both men and women, that the male is dominant and that the woman must "get around" the male to attain power. Social attitudes may be concordant or discordant with the reality of male dominance. In our own society there was a time when the man's "taking the lead" was positively valued by most women (as 30s' movies attest); today such a view is purportedly detested by many. But attitudes toward male-dominance behavior are causally unimportant to the reality they judge -- and are not much more likely to eliminate the reality than would a social dislike of men's being taller be able to eliminate men's being taller. Over the past twenty years, I have consulted every original ethnographic work invoked to demonstrate an exception to these societal universalities. Twenty years ago many textbooks spoke cavalierly of "matriarchies" and "Amazons" and pretended that Margaret Mead had

claimed to find a society in which sex roles were reversed. Today no serious anthropologist is willing to claim that any specific society has ever been an exception.

The inevitability of capitalism makes sure that women are always valued less than men
Heidi Hartmann, Signs, Page 139-140, Capitalism, Patriarchy, and Job Segregation by Sex, 1976. http://www.jstor.org.proxy.lib.umich.edu/stable/3173001?seq=4 Job segregation by sex, I will argue, is the primary mechanism in capitalist society that maintains the superiority of men over women, because it enforces lower wages for women in the labor market. Low wages keep women dependent on men because they encourage women to marry. Married women must perform domestic chores for their husbands. Men benefit, then, from both higher wages and the domestic division of labor. This domestic division of labor, in turn, acts to weaken womens position in the labor market. Thus, the hierarchical domestic division of labor is perpetuated by the labor market, and vice versa. This process is the present outcome of the continuing interaction of two interlocking systems, capitalism and patriarchy. Patriarchy, far from being vanquished by capitalism, is still very virile; it shapes the form modern capitalism takes, just as the development of capitalism has transformed patriarchal institutions. The resulting mutual accommodation between patriarchy and capitalism has created a vicious circle for women.

Biodiversity
Biodiversity doesnt cause mass extinction NPR 7 (5/30/2007, Donald J. Dodds M.S. P.E., President of the North Pacific Research, The Myth of Biodiversity,
northpacificresearch.com/downloads/The_myth_of_biodiversity.doc CS) Notice next that

at least ten times biodiversity fell rapidly; none of these extreme reductions in biodiversity were caused by humans. Around 250 million years ago the number of genera was reduce 85 percent from about 1200 to around 200, by any definition a significant reduction in biodiversity. Now notice that after this extinction a steep and rapid rise of biodiversity. In fact, if you look closely at the curve, you will find that every mass-extinction was followed by a massive increase in biodiversity. Why was that? Do you suppose it had anything to do with the number environmental niches available for exploitation? If you do, you are right. Extinctions are necessary for creation. Each time a mass extinction occurs the world is filled with new and better-adapted species. That is the way evolution works, its called survival of the fittest. Those species that could not adapted to the changing world conditions simply disappeared and better species evolved. How efficient is that? Those that could adapt to change continued to thrive. For example, the cockroach and the shark have been around well over 300 million years. There is a pair to draw to, two successful species that any creator would be proud to produce. To date these creatures have successful survived six extinctions, without the aid of humans or the EPA.

Habitat fragmentation is the leading cause of biodiversity loss Krauss et al. 2010
(Krauss J, Bommarco R, Guardiola M, Heikkinen RK, Helm A, Kuussaari M, Lindborg R, Ockinger E, Prtel M, Pino J, Pyry J, Raatikainen KM, Sang A, Stefanescu C, Teder T, Zobel M, SteffanDewenter I. All part of the Population Ecology Group, Department of Animal Ecology I, University of Bayreuth, Germany. May 2010. Habitat fragmentation causes immediate and time-delayed biodiversity loss at different trophic levels. NCBI. PubMed.gov. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20337698). Intensification or abandonment of agricultural land use has led to a severe decline of seminatural habitats across Europe. This can cause immediate loss of species but also time-delayed extinctions, known as the extinction debt. In a pan-European study of 147 fragmented grassland remnants, we found differences in the extinction debt of species from different trophic levels. Present-day species richness of long-lived vascular plant specialists was better explained by past than current landscape patterns, indicating an extinction debt. In contrast, short-lived butterfly specialists showed no evidence for an extinction debt at a time scale of c. 40 years. Our results indicate that management strategies maintaining the status quo of fragmented habitats are insufficient, as time-delayed extinctions and associated coextinctions will lead to further biodiversity loss in the future.

Many things threaten biodiversity- laundry list- no one key thing Sancris 2013
(Hec Sancris. Wordpress. 2013. What things threaten biodiversity. http://hecsancris.wordpress.com/about/biodiversidad/what-things-threaten-biodiversity/). Around the world, habitats are shrinking due to human activities like farming, logging, and building. This habitat destruction has caused species to go extinct, resulting in a loss of biodiversity. Many human actions, if not properly managed, can cause pollution and overuse resources, which destroys habitats. Loss of these habitatsthe ecosystems where these plants and animals get their water, food, and shelteris the primary reason for biodiversitys decline. Some experts estimate that a major extinction on a scale approximating the loss of dinosaurs may be approachingand it would be the first ever caused by human activity. Once a species has been lost, its lost forever, and with it, the crucial role it played in the web of life. According to many scientists, extinction is speeding up at an alarming rate, and thousands of species may be vanishing each year. Below is a list of things that cause biodiversity loss: Over-hunting and over-fishing: Marine and terrestrial animals are removed and populations shrink or disappear altogetherand not only the ones that are hunted and fished, but other species that relied on the complex interactions interrupted by the removal of one component of the web. Cutting down forests for lumber: When we cut down large expanses of trees and uproot plants, this results in flooding, mudslides, and an increase in pollution. It also removes habitat and refuge for countless species of birds, animals, and insects that cannot survive without their forest homes intact. Converting forests to pasture: This not only destroys habitat and causes erosion, but can be a major source of pollution. High concentrations of livestock means high concentrations of poop, and unless that poop is used as compost or combustible material (in industrial ganaderias, it is not), toxic compounds leech into the soil and water, poisoning life forms and contaminating drinking water. Fragmenting habitats : When ecosystems are broken up or fragmented by highways, farmlands, and other forms of development, populations of plants and animals that once interacted are cut off from each other. Oftentimes, this causes populations to shrink to such a small size that they eventually disappear altogether. Filling in wetlands for urban development: This removes the important ecosystem service of filtering water and preventing floods, as well as eliminates unique habitats rich in species biodiversity. Polluting waterways: Dumping waste into rivers, lakes, and oceans has drastic effects on the aquatic species that live in them. Factories, non-organic industrial farms, highly concentrated ganaderias, and large boats all contribute to waterway pollution. Air pollution : By polluting the air, we are also polluting the water. This is because water exists as tiny particles in the sky, and these particles pick up pollution in the air from car exhaust and other sources of smog. When the water forms droplets and falls from the sky as rain, it carries the pollution with it. This is called acid rain, because rain contaminated with air pollution becomes acidic, and damages life forms that it falls on. Cultivating a low diversity of crops: When we plant only a few varieties of food crops and abandon the richness of crop biodiversity that our ancestors worked hard to provide us with over thousands of years, this can result in a permanent loss in agrobiodiversity. GM crops are the worst example of this, because GM crops contain NO genetic biodiversity! Moreover, they can cross-pollinate with native or traditional strains of the same species, reducing the genetic diversity of the entire species. This is a huge concern right now with the case of GM corn in Mexico, because it has the potential to wipe out all of the

native strands of corn that have been the foundation of mesoamerican culture for thousands of years. Low crop diversity also increases vulnerability to outbreaks of pests and crop diseases. U sing herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, and other pesticides: Spraying these chemicals on crops only allows a very small number of species to survive, undermining the interconnections that should be present in a healthy agro-ecosystem.

Many alt causes to biodiversity [habitat fragmentation, invasive species, pollution, climate change, overexploitation by humans, and the growing human population] UK-NHM 2013UK National History Museum. 2013. What threatens our biodiversity?
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/biodiversity/what-is-threatening-biodiversity/). The world's biodiversity is under threat from various dangers, the majority of which have been caused by humans. Habitat loss and fragmentation is considered by conservation biologists to be the primary cause of biodiversity loss. Clearance of native vegetation for agriculture, housing, timber and industry, as well as draining wetlands and flooding valleys to form reservoirs, destroys these habitats and all the organisms in them. In addition, this destruction can cause remaining habitats to become fragmented and so too small for some organisms to persist, or fragments may be too far apart for other organisms to move between. Invasive alien species are the second greatest threat to biodiversity worldwide. Whether introduced on purpose or accidentally, non-native species can cause severe problems in the ecosystems they invade, from affecting individuals to causing huge changes in ecosystem functioning and the extinction of many species. Virtually all ecosystems worldwide have suffered invasion by the main taxonomic groups. This problem will probably get worse during the next century driven by climate change, and an increase in global trade and tourism. As well as the risks to human health, alien species inflict massive economic costs to agriculture, forestry, fisheries and other human activities . Pollution is currently poisoning all forms of life, both on land and in the water, and contributing to climate change (see below). Any chemical in the wrong place or at the wrong concentration can be considered a pollutant. Transport, industry, construction, extraction, power generation and agroforestry all contribute pollutants to the air, land and water. These chemicals can directly affect biodiversity or lead to chemical imbalances in the environment that ultimately kill individuals, species and habitats. Climate change , brought about by emissions of greenhouse gases when fossil fuels are burnt, is making life uncomfortably hot for some species and uncomfortably cold for others. This can lead to a change in the abundance and distribution of individual species around the globe and will affect the crops we grow, cause a rise in sea levels and problems to many coastal ecosystems. In addition, the climate is becoming more unpredictable and extreme devastating events are becoming more frequent. Over exploitation by humans causes massive destruction to natural ecosystems. Exploitation of biodiversity occurs for food (e.g. fish), construction (e.g. trees), industrial products (e.g. animal blubber, skins), the pet trade (e.g. reptiles, fish, orchids), fashion (e.g. fur, ivory) and traditional medicines (e.g. rhino horn). Selective removal of an individual species can unbalance ecosystems and all other organisms within them. In addition, the physical removal of one species often harms other (e.g. fishing by-catches) Human

populations are growing at an exponential rate, resulting in the problems above. There are more than 7 billion people in the world, and although natural disasters, disease and famines cause massive human mortality, we are getting better at surviving and the population just keeps growing. Human population numbers tripled in the twentieth century and although growth is slowing, one estimate predicts it will take until the twenty-third century for them to level out at around 11 billion.

Impact is empirically denied years of species loss with no impact

ABC News 9 (Biodiversity Crashing Australia Wide, ABC News Worldwide,
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/10/2594884.htm, AD: 6/30/09) AN
Australia has the worst record for mammal extinctions and near-extinctions of any developed nation in the world. And according to the latest national audit of Australian biodiversity, the nation is still losing plant and animal species on a continental scale. The Australian Terrestrial Biodiversity Assessment 2008 has been finished for nine months, but is yet to be officially released. Environment minister Peter Garrett's office says it is out for peer review, but forest ecologist David Lindenmayer has told Radio National Breakfast that government attempts to turn back the tide of species losses are not working. "Biodiversity is not doing well in Australia, and it's continued to do very badly for quite some time," he said. "We are seeing massive crashes of mammal populations in northern Australia now, and we're not seeing those in southern Australia because essentially mammals have gone from huge areas of woodlands, and we are starting to see the bird populations crash." According to Mr Lindenmayer, not even 10 per cent of mammal population numbers that existed in northern Australia 10 to 15 years ago are left. In Victoria there are huge crashes in the number of birds. The Government has implemented a national biodiversity conservation strategy to try to reverse the trend.

No Impact - Corporations innovation solves BioD loss

Thome 9 (Wolfgang H., Tourism reporter, Kafred Offers New Forest and Community Experience, East Africa Tourism Report, eTurbo News, http://www.eturbonews.com/10025/wolfgangs-east-africa-tourism-report, AD: 6/30/09)
Former general manager of Uganda Heritage Trails, John Tinka, has now reappeared in the Fort Portal, Kibale area working at the Kibale Association for Rural and Environmental Development, in short KAFRED. The community-based association has amongst its objectives, the aim

to conserve biodiversity at the community level, promote ecofriendly tourism practices, and assist the local community to engage in sustainable business ventures. The nearby Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary is the first manifestation of KAFREDs community engagement and on offer are guided nature walks taking anywhere between a few hours to a full day and an interpretive nature and village walks where the daily life of a rural African community unfolds in front of
visitors eyes. Traditional home-cooked meals, using fresh local ingredients, are also available for visitors, as are dance and drama sessions performed by local artists this requires prior booking, however. The local womens groups produce curio items and handicrafts for purchase by visitors, bringing much-needed cash into the villages, while some families are available to open their homes and offer tourists a home stay. The Tinka family is at the forefront of this trend, of course, knowing intimately well what is expected by tourist visitors from his previous work in creating the Buganda Heritage Trail in Central Uganda.

Ecosystems are resilient:

Bruce Tonn, 11/1/2007 (http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_028633265107_ITM) Presumably, through the process of evolution, collections of species evolve to create even more resilient ecosystems. Preventing
Theoretically, pursuing this goal could also be counter-productive in the long run.

evolution through maintenance of the status quo, then, would restrict earth-life's ability to adapt to new conditions and situations. Given that it is certain that conditions on earth will change--for instance, we
know that the continents will continue to drift and alter ocean currents, which, in turn, could lead to devastating global climate change--preventing the evolution in the composition of the totality of earth-life could actually lower the probability that earth-life will be able to survive into the distant future under normal circumstances. Thus, futures sustainability requires the maintenance of functioning bioregions, not the biological status quo.

All ecosystems not critical to biodiversity:

Bruce Tonn, 11/1/2007 (http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_028633265107_ITM) protecting biodiversity does not mean that it is necessary that the status quo of all ecosystems on earth be maintained [13]. Taken literally, that is an impossible goal because there will always be fluctuations in species populations if only due to annual changes in weather and precipitation.
It should be clear, though, that

GMOs destroying biodiversity in the squo

Bello 9 (Walden, A Critique of Orthodox Perspectives, All Africa, Opinions,
http://allafrica.com/stories/200906260740.html, AD: 6/30/09) Proponents of GMOs have not been able to alleviate worries that transgenic foods have the potential for creating unexpected reactions in humans unless these foods, which have never been seen before
and thus not selected for human consumption by eons of evolution, are tested rigorously in accordance with the universally recognised precautionary principle. Neither

have they been able to allay worries that non-target populations might be negatively affected by genetic modification aimed at specific pests, as in the case of Bt corn's impact on the monarch butterfly. Nor have they dispelled the very real threat of loss of biodiversity posed by GMOs. The risks are hardly trifling, as noted by one account: The effects of transgenic crops on biodiversity far extend the concerns already raised by monocropping under the Green Revolution. Not only is diversity decreased through the physical loss of species, but because
of its 'live' aspect, it has the potential to contaminate, and potentially to dominate, other strains of the same species. While this may be a limited concern with respect to the contamination of another commercial crop, it is significantly more worrisome when it could contaminate and eradicate generations of evolution of diverse and subtly differentiated strains of a single crop, such as the recently discovered transgenic contamination of landraces of indigenous corn in Mexico.[3]

Re-speciation will rapidly fill in the vacuum

McKinney 98 Michael L. McKinney, 1998, Biodiversity Dynamics : Niche Preemption and Saturation in Diversity Equilibria, Biodiversity Dynamics: Turnover of Populations, Taxa, and Communities, Chapter 1, Michael L. McKinney and James A. Drake, eds. http://www.earthscape.org/r3/mckinney/mckinney01.html A key prediction of the niche preemption model is that, as incumbent occupants of niches are not dislodged by competition, then extinction of the incumbents by disturbances provides the main opportunity for replacement. As Roy (1996) discusses (and shows evidence for), speciationrate disparities tend to drive changes in diversity composition during both background and mass extinctions. Mass extinctions provide widespread opportunities to occupy many ecological niches and so accelerate incumbent replacement (Patzkowsky 1995; Roy 1996).

Warming
Global warming isnt a threat- new scientists and information emerging WSJ 7/23No Need to Panic About Global Warming. The Wall Street Journal. Tuesday, July 23,
2013. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204301404577171531838421366.html). There's no compelling scientific argument for drastic action to 'decarbonize' the world's economy. Editor's Note: The following has been signed by the 16 scientists listed at the end of the article: A candidate for public office in any contemporary democracy may have to consider what, if anything, to do about "global warming." Candidates should understand that the oft-repeated claim that nearly all scientists demand that something dramatic be done to stop global warming is not true. In fact, a large and growing number of distinguished scientists and engineers do not agree that drastic actions on global warming are needed. In September, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Ivar Giaever, a supporter of President Obama in the last election, publicly resigned from the American Physical Society (APS) with a letter that begins: "I did not renew [my membership] because I cannot live with the [APS policy] statement: 'The evidence is incontrovertible: Global warming is occurring. If no mitigating actions are taken, significant disruptions in the Earth's physical and ecological systems, social systems, security and human health are likely to occur. We must reduce emissions of greenhouse gases beginning now.' In the APS it is OK to discuss whether the mass of the proton changes over time and how a multi-universe behaves, but the evidence of global warming is incontrovertible?" In spite of a multidecade international campaign to enforce the message that increasing amounts of the "pollutant" carbon dioxide will destroy civilization, large numbers of scientists, many very prominent, share the opinions of Dr. Giaever. And the number of scientific "heretics" is growing with each passing year. The reason is a collection of stubborn scientific facts. Perhaps the most inconvenient fact is the lack of global warming for well over 10 year s now. This is known to the warming establishment, as one can see from the 2009 "Climategate" email of climate scientist Kevin Trenberth: "The fact is that we can't account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a travesty that we can't." But the warming is only missing if one believes computer models where so-called feedbacks involving water vapor and clouds greatly amplify the small effect of CO2.The lack of warming for more than a decade indeed, the smaller-than-predicted warming over the 22 years since the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) began issuing projectionssuggests that computer models have greatly exaggerated how much warming additional CO2 can cause. Faced with this embarrassment, those promoting alarm have shifted their drumbeat from warming to weather extremes, to enable anything unusual that happens in our chaotic climate to be ascribed to CO2. The fact is that CO2 is not a pollutant. CO2 is a colorless and odorless gas, exhaled at high concentrations by each of us, and a key component of the biosphere's life cycle. Plants do so much better with more CO2 that greenhouse operators often increase the CO2 concentrations by factors of three or four to get better growth. This is no surprise since plants and animals evolved when CO2 concentrations were about 10 times larger than they are today. Better plant varieties, chemical fertilizers and agricultural management contributed

to the great increase in agricultural yields of the past century, but part of the increase almost certainly came from additional CO2 in the atmosphere. Although the number of publicly dissenting scientists is growing, many young scientists furtively say that while they also have serious doubts about the global-warming message, they are afraid to speak up for fear of not being promotedor worse. They have good reason to worry. In 2003, Dr. Chris de Freitas, the editor of the journal Climate Research, dared to publish a peer-reviewed article with the politically incorrect (but factually correct) conclusion that the recent warming is not unusual in the context of climate changes over the past thousand years. The international warming establishment quickly mounted a determined campaign to have Dr. de Freitas removed from his editorial job and fired from his university position. Fortunately, Dr. de Freitas was able to keep his university job. This is not the way science is supposed to work, but we have seen it beforefor example, in the frightening period when Trofim Lysenko hijacked biology in the Soviet Union. Soviet biologists who revealed that they believed in genes, which Lysenko maintained were a bourgeois fiction, were fired from their jobs. Many were sent to the gulag and some were condemned to death. Why is there so much passion about global warming, and why has the issue become so vexing that the American Physical Society, from which Dr. Giaever resigned a few months ago, refused the seemingly reasonable request by many of its members to remove the word "incontrovertible" from its description of a scientific issue? There are several reasons, but a good place to start is the old question "cui bono?" Or the modern update, "Follow the money." Alarmism over climate is of great benefit to many, providing government funding for academic research and a reason for government bureaucracies to grow. Alarmism also offers an excuse for governments to raise taxes, taxpayer-funded subsidies for businesses that understand how to work the political system, and a lure for big donations to charitable foundations promising to save the planet. Lysenko and his team lived very well, and they fiercely defended their dogma and the privileges it brought them. Speaking for many scientists and engineers who have looked carefully and independently at the science of climate, we have a message to any candidate for public office: There is no compelling scientific argument for drastic action to "decarbonize" the world's economy. Even if one accepts the inflated climate forecasts of the IPCC, aggressive greenhouse-gas control policies are not justified economically. A recent study of a wide variety of policy options by Yale economist William Nordhaus showed that nearly the highest benefit-to-cost ratio is achieved for a policy that allows 50 more years of economic growth unimpeded by greenhouse gas controls. This would be especially beneficial to the less-developed parts of the world that would like to share some of the same advantages of material well-being, health and life expectancy that the fully developed parts of the world enjoy now. Many other policy responses would have a negative return on investment. And it is likely that more CO2 and the modest warming that may come with it will be an overall benefit to the planet. If elected officials feel compelled to "do something" about climate, we recommend supporting the excellent scientists who are increasing our understanding of climate with well-designed instruments on satellites, in the oceans and on land, and in the analysis of observational data. The better we understand climate, the better we can cope with its ever-changing nature, which has complicated human life throughout history. However, much of the huge private and government investment in climate is badly in need of critical review. Every candidate should support rational measures to protect and improve our environment, but it makes no sense at all to back expensive programs that divert resources from real needs and are based on alarming but untenable claims of "incontrovertible" evidence.

Claude Allegre, former director of the Institute for the Study of the Earth, University of Paris; J. Scott Armstrong, cofounder of the Journal of Forecasting and the International Journal of Forecasting; Jan Breslow, head of the Laboratory of Biochemical Genetics and Metabolism, Rockefeller University; Roger Cohen, fellow, American Physical Society; Edward David, member, National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Sciences; William Happer, professor of physics, Princeton; Michael Kelly, professor of technology, University of Cambridge, U.K.; William Kininmonth, former head of climate research at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology; Richard Lindzen, professor of atmospheric sciences, MIT; James McGrath, professor of chemistry, Virginia Technical University; Rodney Nichols, former president and CEO of the New York Academy of Sciences; Burt Rutan, aerospace engineer, designer of Voyager and SpaceShipOne; Harrison H. Schmitt, Apollo 17 astronaut and former U.S. senator; Nir Shaviv, professor of astrophysics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem; Henk Tennekes, former director, Royal Dutch Meteorological Service; Antonio Zichichi, president of the World Federation of Scientists, Geneva.

Wetlands
ALT CAUSES TO WETLAND DESTRUCTION: Hydrologic Alterations of Wetlands Marjut H. Turner and Richard Gannon 12 [5/2/12, North Carolina State University
Water Quality Group, http://www.water.ncsu.edu/watershedss/about.html#auth, Major Causes of Wetland Loss and Degradation, Marjut H. Turner and Richard Gannon] Wetlands form as a result of certain hydrologic conditions which cause the water table to saturate or inundate the soil for a certain amount of time each year. The frequent or prolonged presence of water at or near the soil (hydrology) is the dominant factor determining the nature of soil development and the types of plant and animal communities living in the soil and on its surface. Wetlands can be identified by the presence of those plants (hydrophytes) that are adapted to life in the soils that form under flooded or saturated conditions (hydric soils) characteristic of all wetlands (Mitsch and Gosselink 1993). Thus alteration of wetland hydrology can change the soil chemistry and the plant and animal community. Alteration which reduces or increases the natural amount of water entering a wetland or the period of saturation and inundation can, in time, cause the ecosystem to change to an upland system or, conversely, to a riverine or lacustrine system. This alteration can be natural, such as through the successional process of stream impoundment by beavers or climate change. Wetland loss and degradation through hydrologic alteration by man has occurred historically through such actions as: drainage, dredging, stream channelization, ditching, levees, deposition of fill material, stream diversion, ground water withdrawal, and impoundment. Implications of hydrologic alterations of wetlands Habitat loss and fragmentation In Louisiana, coastal areas are subsiding as a result of the redirection of sediment by the Mississippi River levees, subsurface withdrawals of water, oil, gas, sulfur, and salt, from under wetlands, channelization of wetlands, and drainage of wetlands for development (Carney and Watson 1991; Boesch 1983; Duffy and Clark 1989). As the coast subsides, sea levels rise, essentially, to cover the land. The loss of $300 million worth of coastal real estate in the next 50 years is possible if subsidence continues (Carney and Watson 1991). The cost of the loss of wetland habitat as the sea levels rise to cover the land has not been determined. Land subsidence also allows saltwater intrusion into freshwater wetlands and causes shifts in the plant and animal community (Pezenski et al. 1990). Saltwater intrusion and the subsequent modification of wetlands habitat threaten the billion dollar fishery industry as well as the multi-million dollar trapping business (Boesch 1983; Duffy and Clark 1989). Habitat fragmentation, as wetlands are drained or hydrologically altered, may result in changes in species composition as wetlands species are replaced by upland species; loss of large, wide-ranging species; loss of genetic integrity when isolated habitats are too small to support viable populations; reduced populations of interior species that can only reproduce in large tracts; and increased numbers of competitor, predator, and parasite species tolerant of disturbed environments (Harris 1988; Fleming e t al. 1994). Water diversion structures Water diversion structures, such as canals (channels), ditches, and levees have been used to modify wetlands to achieve flood control, drainage, mosquito control, irrigation, timber harvest, navigation, transportation, and industrial activity (Mitsch and Gosselink 1993). Canals and channelization change the hydrology of wetlands and increase the

speed with which water moves into and through wetlands. As a result, patterns of sedimentation are altered and wetland functions and values that depend on the normal slow flow of water through a wetland can be affected. High sediment loads entering wetlands through channels, irrigation ditches and drainage ditches can smother aquatic vegetation, shellfish beds and tidal flats, fill in riffles and pools, and contribute to increased turbidity (USEPA 1993a). However, normal sedimentation rates in coastal wetlands are necessary to reduce land subsidence. Channelization and channel modification alter instream water temperature and diminish habitat suitable for fish and wildlife (USEPA 1993a). Normal sheet flow through wetlands is inhibited by the spoil banks that line a canal and by road embankments. Spoil banks and embankments also increase water stagnation. Channels often connect low-salinity areas to high-salinity areas, resulting in saltwater intrusion upstream, and causing species change and mortality of salt-intolerant vegetation. Impoundments Impoundment of natural wetlands for stormwater management or wildlife and habitat management may exploit one function of wetlands at the expense of others (USEPA 1993a; Mitsch and Gosselink 1993). Impoundment alters the natural wetlands' hydrology and decreases water circulation. Decreased water circulation causes increased water temperature, lower dissolved oxygen levels, and changes in salinity and pH; prevents nutrient outflow; and increases sedimentation (USEPA 1993a). Sedimentation reduces the water storage capacity, smothers vegetation, reduces light penetration, reduces oxygen content and affects the entire ecosystem richness, diversity, and productivity. Toxic substances, adhering to sediments, may accumulate in impoundments as a result of decreased water circulation and bioaccumulation of contaminants by wetland biota may occur. Impoundment of coastal wetlands reduces the exchange of tidal water in salt marshes and can impede the movement of fish that use the marsh for a part of their life cycle. Impoundments are often invaded by non-native plant species such as common reed (Phragmites) and purple loosestrife (Lytherium) which outcompete the native species and change the wetland community structure.

Urbanization Marjut H. Turner and Richard Gannon 12 [5/2/12, North Carolina State University
Water Quality Group, http://www.water.ncsu.edu/watershedss/about.html#auth, Major Causes of Wetland Loss and Degradation, Marjut H. Turner and Richard Gannon] Urbanization is a major cause of impairment of wetlands (USEPA 1994b). Urbanization has resulted in direct loss of wetland acreage as well as degradation of wetlands. Degradation is due to changes in water quality, quantity, and flow rates; increases in pollutant inputs; and changes in species composition as a result of introduction of non-native species and disturbance. The major pollutants associated with urbanization are sediment, nutrients, oxygendemanding substances, road salts, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, bacteria, and viruses (USEPA 1994b). These pollutants may enter wetlands from point sources or from nonpoint sources. Construction activities are a major source of suspended sediments that enter wetlands through urban runoff. Impervious surfaces As roads, buildings, and parking lots are constructed, the amount of impervious surface increases. Impervious surfaces prevent rainfall from percolating into the soil. Rainfall and snowmelt carry sediments; organic matter; pet wastes; pesticides and fertilizers from lawns, gardens, and golf courses; heavy metals; hydrocarbons; road salts; and debris into urban streams and wetlands (USEPA 1993a; USEPA 1993c). Increased salinity, turbidity, and toxicity; and decreased dissolved oxygen, all affect aquatic life and, therefore, the food web (Crance 1988). Excessive inputs of nutrients can lead to eutrophication or result in the release of pollutants from a wetland into adjacent water resources (USEPA 1993a). As runoff

moves over warmed impervious surfaces, the water temperature rises and dissolved oxygen content of the runoff water decreases (USEPA 1993c). Increased water temperature, as well as the lower dissolved oxygen levels, can cause stress or mortality of aquatic organisms. Rising water temperatures can trigger a release of nutrients from wetland sediment (Taylor et al. 1990). For example, as temperature rises, sediments release phosphorus at an exponential rate. Thus water temperature increases can lead to eutrophication. Impervious surfaces decrease ground water recharge within a watershed and can reduce water flow into wetlands (USEPA 1993c). Significant increases in stormwater peakflow rates, and longer-term changes in wetland hydrology, as a result of stormwater discharge, can cause erosion and channelization in wetlands, as well as alteration of species composition and decreased pollutant removal efficiency (USEPA 1993a; USEPA 1993c). Changes in frequency, duration, and timing of the wetland hydroperiod may adversely affect spawning, migration, species composition, and thus the food web in a wetland as well as in associated ecosystems (Crance 1988; USEPA 1993c). Wastewater and stormwater Wastewater treatment plant effluent and urban stormwater are a source of pollutants that continue to degrade wetlands (USEPA 1994b). The "aging" of wetlands can occur when wetlands filter organic matter. "Aging" is the saturation of the ecosystem by nutrients and heavy metals over time that results in the reduced effectiveness and degradation of the wetland (Mitsch and Gosselink 1986). Wastewater and stormwater can alter the ecology of a wetland ecosystem if high nutrient levels cause extended eutrophication and metals cause plant and aquatic organism toxicity (Ewel 1990). Iron and magnesium, in particular, may reach toxic concentrations, immobilize available phosphorous, and coat roots with iron oxide, preventing nutrient uptake. Over one-third of shellfish waters can not be harvested because of habitat degradation, pollutants, algal blooms, and pathogens. To a large extent, this degradation is caused by urban pollution (NOAA 1995b; NOAA 1990b; USEPA 1994b). Heavy metals may bioaccumulate in estuarine wetlands, causing deformities, cancers, and death in aquatic animals and their terrestrial predators. Heavy metal ingestion by benthic organisms (including many shellfish) in estuarine wetlands occurs because the metals bind to the sediments or the suspended solids that such organisms feed on or settle on the substrate where such organisms live. Urban and industrial stormwater, sludge, and wastewater treatment plant effluent, rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, can lead to algal blooms in estuaries. Algal blooms deplete dissolved oxygen, leading to mortality of benthic organisms. Some algae are toxic to aquatic life (Kennish 1992). Excess algae can shade underwater sea grasses (part of the coastal wetland ecosystem), preventing photosynthesis and resulting in sea grass death (Batiuk et al. 1992; USEPA 1994b). Because sea grass meadows reduce turbidity by stabilizing sediments and provide critical food, refuge, and habitat for a variety of organisms, including many commercially harvested fish, the death of these plants profoundly impairs the estuarine ecosystem. (Dennison et al. 1993; USEPA 1994 b; Batiuk et al. 1992). Roads and bridges Roads and bridges are frequently constructed across wetlands since wetlands have low land value. It is often considered to be more cost effective to build roads or bridges across wetlands than around them (Winter 1988). Roads can impound a wetland, even if culverts are used. Such inadvertent impoundment and hydrologic alteration can change the functions of the wetland (Winter 1988). Road and bridge construction activities can increase sediment loading to wetlands (Mitsch and Gosselink 1993). Roads can also disrupt habitat continuity, driving out more sensitive, interior species, and providing habitat for hardier opportunistic edge and non-native species. Roads can impede movement of certain species or

result in increased mortality for animals crossing them. Borrow pits (used to provide fill for road construction) that are adjacent to wetlands can degrade water quality through sedimentation and increase turbidity in the wetland (Irwin 1994). The maintenance and use of roads contribute many chemicals into the surrounding wetlands. Rock salt used for deicing roads can damage or kill vegetation and aquatic life (Zentner 1994). Herbicides, soil stabilizers, and dust palliatives used along roadways can damage wetland plants and the chemicals may concentrate in aquatic life or cause mortality (USEPA 1993a). Runoff from bridges can increase loadings of hydrocarbons, heavy metals, toxic substances, and deicing chemicals directly into wetlands (U SEPA 1993a). Bridge maintenance may contribute lead, rust (iron), and the chemicals from paint, solvents, abrasives, and cleaners directly into wetlands below. Innovative methods of constructing roads and bridges, and end-state (master) planning that reduces the need for new roads, can reduce the impacts of urbanization on wetlands. Sanitary landfills Landfills can pose an ecological risk to wetlands. Landfill construction may alter the hydrology of nearby wetlands. Leachate from solid waste landfills often has high biological oxygen demand (BOD), and ammonium, iron, and manganese in concentrations that are toxic to plant and animal life (Lambou et al. 1988). Sanitary landfills may receive household hazardous waste and some hazardous waste from small quantity operators, as well as sewage sludge and industrial waste. Although regulated (under RCRA Subtitle D), these facilities may not always be properly located, designed, or managed, in which case some surface water contamination may occur. Researchers who conducted a study of the proximity of 1,153 sanitary landfills to wetlands in 11 states, found that 98 percent of the sanitary landfills were 1 mile or less from a wetland, and 72 percent were 1/4 mile or less from a wetland (Lambou et al. 1988). Non-native plants and animals As a result of disturbance and habitat degradation, wetlands can be invaded by aggressive, highly-tolerant, non-native vegetation, such as purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), water hyacinth(Eichornia crassipes), and salvinia (Salvinia molesta), or can be dominated by a monoculture of cattails (Typha spp.) or common reed (Phragmites spp.) (McColligan and Kraus 1988; Weller 1981; Mitsch and Gosselink 1993). Particularly in constructed wetlands, including restored wetlands, non-native and tolerant native species may outcompete other species leading to a reduction in species diversity . Nonnative species may be introduced on purpose. For example, water hyacinth has been noted for its ability to sequester nutrients and is used for wastewater purification (Mitsch and Gosselink 1993). Water hyacinth and similar species can rapidly fill a wetland and are a threat to water quality in some areas. Carp and nutria are two introduced exotic animal species that degrade wetlands (Mitsch and Gosselink 1993). Carp, introduced for recreational fishing, severely increase the turbidity of water resources. Nutria, introduced for their pelts, are rodents that voraciously eat, as well as destroy, freshwater and coastal wetland vegetation. Domestic and feral cats can be extremely damaging as they prey on wetland birds. Mosquito control programs Mosquito control efforts in urbanized and resort communities has resulted in wetlands loss and degradation through drainage, channelization, and use of toxic chemicals.

Marinas/Boats Marjut H. Turner and Richard Gannon 12 [5/2/12, North Carolina State University
Water Quality Group, http://www.water.ncsu.edu/watershedss/about.html#auth, Major Causes of Wetland Loss and Degradation, Marjut H. Turner and Richard Gannon]

Marina construction and dredging activities can contribute suspended sediments into waters adjacent to wetlands. Intense boating activity can also increase turbidity and degradation of wetlands. Wetlands can be adversely affected by pollutants released from boats and marinas. Pollutants include: hydrocarbons, heavy metals, toxic chemicals from paints, cleaners, and solvents (USEPA 1993a). Dumping of wastes from fish cleaning and discharge of human waste from marinas and boats can increase the amount of nutrients and organic matter in a wetland. The increased organic matter and nutrients can lead to eutrophication.

Industry Marjut H. Turner and Richard Gannon 12 [5/2/12, North Carolina State University
Water Quality Group, http://www.water.ncsu.edu/watershedss/about.html#auth, Major Causes of Wetland Loss and Degradation, Marjut H. Turner and Richard Gannon] Adverse effects of industry on wetlands can include: reduction of wetland acreage, alteration of wetland hydrology due to industrial water intake and discharge, water temperature increases, point and nonpoint source pollutant inputs, pH changes as a result of discharges, and atmospheric deposition. Saline water discharges, hydrocarbon contamination, and radionuclide accumulation from oil and gas production can significantly degrade coastal wetlands (Rayle and Mulino 1992). Most petroleum hydrocarbon inputs into coastal wetlands are either from coastal oil industry activities, from oil spills at sea, from runoff, or from upstream releases (Kennish 1992). Oil can alter reproduction, growth, and behavior of wetland organisms, and can result in mortality. Plants suffocate when oil blocks their stomata (Dibner 1978). Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are extremely toxic compounds that can enter estuarine wetlands through industrial effluent and atmospheric deposition. PAHs concentrate in sediments and thus contaminate benthic organisms (Kennish 1992). Fish contaminated with PAHs exhibit external abnormalities, such as fin loss and dermal lesions. Superfund (CERCLA) or RCRA sites Toxic, radioactive, or acidic compounds and high concentrations of metals in abandoned industrial wastes at Superfund sites, or in operative (RCRA) waste sites, may be an ecological risk to wetlands fauna and flora. Many sites are close enough to directly or indirectly (through water flow) impact wetlands (Magistro and Lee 1988). Clean-up activities at Superfund and RCRA sites can degrade adjacent wetlands as well through disturbance of hydrology, introduction of contaminants, and degradation of habitat by equipment. Metals and radionuclides tend to naturally concentrate in wetlands sediments and peat (Owen 1992). Such concentrations can be released in a flush from the wetland into surface water or ground water as a result of pollutant inflow or hydrologic alteration of the wetland (Owen 1992). Such a release of toxic compounds could generate serious environmental consequences. Intake of very low concentrations of radionuclides, such as uranium, from a water supply, for instance, will cause kidney failure and death . If radioactive peat or peat with a high metal concentration is used for gardening or agricultural activities, it can pose a human health risk as well (Owen 1992).

Agriculture Marjut H. Turner and Richard Gannon 12 [5/2/12, North Carolina State University
Water Quality Group, http://www.water.ncsu.edu/watershedss/about.html#auth, Major Causes of Wetland Loss and Degradation, Marjut H. Turner and Richard Gannon] Historically, agriculture has been the major factor in freshwater and estuarine wetland loss and degradation. Although the passage of the Food Security Act of 1985 "Swampbuster" provision

prevented the conversion of wetlands to agricultural production, certain exempted activities performed in wetlands can degrade wetlands: harvesting food, fiber, or forest products; minor drainage; maintenance of drainage ditches; construction and maintenance of irrigation ditches; construction and maintenance of farm or forest roads; maintenance of dams, dikes, and levees; direct and aerial application of damaging pesticides (herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, fumigants); and ground water withdrawals. These activities can alter a wetland's hydrology, water quality, and species composition. Excessive amounts of fertilizers and animal waste reaching wetlands in runoff from agricultural operations, including confined animal facilities, can cause eutrophication. Wetlands provide critical habitat for waterfowl populations. The drainage of U.S. and Canadian prairie potholes for agricultural production has been linked to a concomitant 50% - 80% decline in waterfowl populations since 1955 (USEPA 1995; DU 1995). Since the Swampbuster legislation was promulgated, the waterfowl population has begin to increase. Swampbuster rendered drainage of prairie potholes costly, and encouraged farmers to allow prior converted wetlands to revert to their previous natural wetland state and to construct farm ponds or restore marshes. Duck populations in 1994 increased by 24% over 1993 populations, and were the highest since 1980, when duck populations had plunged to a low (USEPA 1995). Toxic compounds Irrigation ditching can increase contamination of wetlands receiving irrigation drainage water, particularly where soil is alkaline or contains selenium or other heavy metals (Deason 1989). Untreated runoff containing extremely high concentrations of selenium led to mortality and deformities in bird, amphibian, and fish embryos and the disappearance of species from wetlands in California (USEPA 1995). Agricultural pesticides entering wetlands in runoff, as well as through atmospheric deposition, may bioaccumulate in fish and other aquatic organisms (Kennish 1992). Grazing Grazing livestock can degrade wetlands that they use as a food and water source. Urea and manure can result in high nutrient inputs. Cattle traffic may cause dens and tunnels to collapse. Overgrazing of riparian areas by livestock reduces streamside vegetation, preventing runoff filtration, increasing stream temperatures, and eliminating food and cover for fish and wildlife. As vegetation is reduced, streambanks can be destroyed by sloughing and erosion. Streambank destabilization and erosion then cause downstream sedimentation (Kent 1994b). Sedimentation reduces stream and lake capacity, resulting in decreased water supply, irrigation water, flood control, hydropower production, water quality, and impairment of aquatic life and wetland habitat (USEPA 1993b). The economic losses attributed to the reduced quality and quantity of water and habitat from overgrazing of riparian wetland vegetation is more than $200 million (USEPA 1993b). The depletion of vegetation from riparian areas causes increased water temperatures and erosion and gully formation, prevents runoff filtration, and eliminates food and cover for fish and wildlife (USEPA 1993b). If stocking of livestock is well managed, grazing can coexist with wetlands, benefiting farmers and increasing habitat diversity.

Silviculture/Timber Harvest Marjut H. Turner and Richard Gannon 12 [5/2/12, North Carolina State University
Water Quality Group, http://www.water.ncsu.edu/watershedss/about.html#auth, Major Causes of Wetland Loss and Degradation, Marjut H. Turner and Richard Gannon] If best management practices are used and careful monitoring occurs, silviculture and timber removal may only minimally affect some wetland functions. Habitat and community structure, however, still may be seriously degraded. Drainage, clearing, haul road construction, rutting, and ditching of forested wetlands, all may affect wetlands in some way, although the impact

may only be temporary. Since timber removal generally occurs in 20-50 year rotations, careful harvest may not be a permanent threat to wetlands. Adverse effects of timber harvest can include a rise in water table due to a decrease in transpiration, soil disturbance and compaction by heavy equipment, sedimentation and erosion from logging decks, skid trails, roads, and ditches, and drainage and altered hydrology from ditching, draining, and road construction (Shepard 1994). By utilizing best management practices, hydrology and biogeochemical processes of wetlands may be altered for only one to three years following timber harvest (Shepard 1994). Pesticides and fertilizers used during silvicultural operations can enter wetlands through runoff as well as through deposition from aerial application. Fertilizers may contribute to eutrophication of wetlands.

Mining Marjut H. Turner and Richard Gannon 12 [5/2/12, North Carolina State University
Water Quality Group, http://www.water.ncsu.edu/watershedss/about.html#auth, Major Causes of Wetland Loss and Degradation, Marjut H. Turner and Richard Gannon] Peat mining Peat is mined for agricultural and horticultural uses on a relatively small scale in the United States (Mitsch and Gosselink 1993). Wetlands that are mined for peat are significantly modified, often being transformed into open water habitat (Camp Dresser and McKee 1981). Peat mining not only removes peat but requires clearing of vegetation, drainage of the wetland, and creation of roads for equipment access to harvest the peat. These activities destroy the portion of the wetland selected for harvest and degrade adjacent areas. An alternative to mining peat in pristine wetlands is to mine in former wetlands or wetlands that have been severely degraded through conversion to other uses. Other mining operations Phosphate mining has resulted in the loss of thousands of acres of wetlands in central Florida (Mitsch and Gosselink 1993). Other types of mining operations can also degrade wetlands through hydrologic alterations, high metal concentrations, and/or decreased pH. Acid drainage from active and abandoned mines causes extensive ecological damage. Acid mine drainage introduces high levels of acidity and heavy metals into the wetland environment through runoff and through direct drainage from mines into wetlands. The acidity and the high metal concentrations alter the biotic community composition and can result in mortality (Lacki et al. 1992; Mitsch and Gosselink 1993). Although natural wetlands may have the capacity to buffer some of the acidity and absorb a certain amount of the pollutants, over time, the assimilative capacity will be saturated (Kent 1994; Weider 1993).

Atmospheric Deposition Marjut H. Turner and Richard Gannon 12 [5/2/12, North Carolina State University
Water Quality Group, http://www.water.ncsu.edu/watershedss/about.html#auth, Major Causes of Wetland Loss and Degradation, Marjut H. Turner and Richard Gannon] Nitrous oxides, sulfurous oxides, heavy metals, volatilized pesticides, hydrocarbons, radionuclides, and other organics and inorganics are released into the atmosphere by industrial and agricultural activities, and from vehicles. These compounds can enter wetlands through wet and dry atmospheric deposition and can adversely affect aquatic organisms and the terrestrial organisms that feed on them.

Other Stuff

Aff Politics Links

1) Factory reform disincentives illegal migration Sierra Club 2007 Largest grassroots environmental organization in the U.S. NAFTAs Impact
on Mexico http://www.sierraclub.org/trade/downloads/nafta-and-mexico.pdf These disenfranchised farmers have migrated to the already overcrowded and heavily polluted cities and manufacturing zones of Mexico, worsening existing environmental and health conditions. It is estimated that NAFTA created only 700,000 manufacturing jobs in Mexico - far too few to absorb the 2 million displaced farmers and the 130,000 jobs lost in domestic manufacturing due to the replacement of 13 formerly domestically produced goods by imports.suspension of NAFTA tariff reductions, and a re-negotiation of NAFTAs agriculture provisions, but to no avail. With no employment prospects and worsening living conditions, many farmers believe their only option to earn a living is to attempt the perilous crossing into the United States.

2) Border security generates bipartisan support and ensures support for immigration bill Max Ehrenfreund 6/20/2013 from the Washington Post. Border security proposal draws
Republican support for Senate immigration bill http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-0620/politics/40087900_1_immigration-bill-border-fencing-u-s-border-patrol In a compromise that could guarantee wide bipartisan support for the Senates bill to reform the immigration system, senators have agreed to significantly increase security at the Mexican border: Senators have reached an agreement that would almost double the number of federal agents along the U.S.-Mexico border, require construction of 700 miles of border fencing and provide money for aerial drones. Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.) later Thursday are expected to announce details of the agreement that they worked on in recent days with members of the bipartisan Gang of Eight who wrote the immigration bill.In an early sign of how critical the deal could be towards securing more GOP support for the immigration bill, Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) said Thursday morning that he now plans to vote for the legislation because the new deal will restore the peoples trust in our ability to control the border. The agreement calls for a border surge that would double the number of U.S. Border Patrol agents along the southern border to more than 40,000, according to aides. The federal government also would need to complete construction of about 700 miles of fencing along the border, essentially forcing compliance with immigration laws passed in 1996 and 2006 that authorized its construction... The agreement is another victory for the bipartisan gang, but also for Corker, Hoeven and at least eight other centrist Senate Republicans who were always expected to support the immigration bill, but wanted to toughen the legislation by adding stricter border security provisions in hopes of increasing the margin of bipartisan support. Supporters believe that a significant bipartisan majority might all-but force House Republicans to take up the Senate bill even as it considers smaller, more conservative proposals.

Neg Politics Links Multinational cooperation reform is opposed in congress- empirics prove Jeffrey Kaye 02/16/2012 Kaye worked as a correspondent for the PBS PBS NewsHour for 25
years and was a longtime contributor to "World Report," a current affairs program on HDNet television. Regulate the Rotten Apples: The Need for a New 'Decent Working Conditions and Fair Competition Act' http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-kaye/apple-laborrights_b_1276844.html Apple's size makes it exceptional, but it is only one of countless transnational companies which are able to choose efficiency and lower prices over employee rights and environmental protections. What needs to be done is a measure that seems straightforward, but is politically fraught. The United States and other developed countries need laws similar to ones introduced five and six years ago in the U.S. entitled: "The Decent Working Conditions and Fair Competition Act." Those proposals, which died in committee two years running, targeted foreign sweatshops. One of its sponsors, Democrat Sherrod Brown (in 2006, a member of the House of Representatives, now the senior Senator from Ohio) described it this way: "The bill is simple. It bars the importation or the sale of goods made with sweatshop labor." What's "sweatshop labor?" Reasonable minds may differ. Standards would need to be hammered out. At the very least, a reasonable bill would bar the importing of goods whose production along the supply chain complies with the local applicable labor laws. Manufacturers and suppliers should also have to meet local environmental regulations. These are low bars, because standards vary so much from one country to another. But such an import law, if properly enforced, would have the effect of improving working conditions and environmental compliance in exporting countries. It would distribute the responsibility among manufacturers, suppliers, importers, exporters, and governments. And by addressing the corporate "race to the bottom," it would have the added benefit of helping to reverse the devastating effects of offshoring and outsourcing. As then-Rep. Sherrod Brown put it in 2006: "It is our job here in Congress to provide a level playing field for U.S. workers, to help those small manufacturers, to help those workers, to help those families, to help those communities and provide decent working conditions for workers here and abroad."

Sweatshop reform fails in congress Economic Geography, 05 July 2012 information on many different aspects of Economic
Geography, on related conferences, links, study options, publications, jobs and positions as also tools for communication and discussion with colleagues. Effects of Globalization http://www.economicgeography.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=98:effects-ofglobalization&catid=98:inf&Itemid=85 One example used by anti-globalization protestors is the use of sweatshops by manufacturers. According to Global Exchange these Sweat Shops are widely used by sports shoe manufacturers and mentions one company in particular Nike.[17] There are factories set up in the poor countries where employees agree to work for low wages. Then if labour laws alter in those countries and stricter rules govern the manufacturing process the factories are closed down and relocated to other nations with more conservative, laissez-faire economic policies.

There are several agencies that have been set up worldwide specifically designed to focus on anti-sweatshop campaigns and education of such. In the USA, the National Labor Committee has proposed a number of bills as part of the The Decent Working Conditions and Fair Competition Act, which have thus far failed in Congress. The legislation would legally require companies to respect human and worker rights by prohibiting the import, sale, or export of sweatshop goods. [18] Specifically, these core standards include no child labor, no forced labor, freedom of association, right to organize and bargain collectively, as well as the right to decent working conditions. [19] Tiziana Terranova has stated that globalization has brought a culture of "free labour". In a digital sense, it is where the individuals (contributing capital) exploits and eventually "exhausts the means through which labour can sustain itself". For example, in the area of digital media (animations, hosting chat rooms, designing games), where it is often less glamourous than it may sound. In the gaming industry, a Chinese Gold Market has been established. [20]

Obama will push fair trade legislation Dan Merica and Alan Silverleib, 3/17/12 CNN Obama pushes manufacturing, fair trade
with China http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/17/election/2012/obama-boeing (CNN) -- President Barack Obama trumpeted his manufacturing and export agenda Friday, telling a crowd in Washington state that the American economy is poised for a strong, longterm recovery with the right kind of government assistance. "The last few decades haven't been easy for manufacturing," the president said during a tour of Boeing's assembly plant in Everett. But "in this country we don't give up even when times are tough." Americans "don't have to sit there and settle for a lesser future," he asserted. Obama's remarks were made on the third day of a West Coast swing mixed with policy announcements and political events. Among other things, he discussed the need to provide greater export financing to American manufacturing companies while expanding support for small business. He hit on the need to ensure fairer trading practices with China -- a political hot button in the current campaign. Several of Obama's Republican critics have attacked the administration for failing to do more to reduce America's trade imbalance with the growing Asian power. "I will go anywhere in the world to open up new markets for American products," Obama said. "If we have a level playing field, America will always win because we have the best workers." The speech -- built on the administration's "Blueprint for an America to Last" -- came three days after a litany of administration officials, including the president and Vice President Joe Biden, met with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping in Washington. During the speech, the president highlighted his promise to double American exports over five years -- a goal he said is on track to be reached ahead of schedule.

The plan is massively unpopular with big business-China reforms prove BRIAN J. ROGAL 1/31/7 Fights Over Chinese Labor Reform
http://inthesetimes.com/article/3017/fights_over_chinese_labor_reform Last March, in his annual speech to the National Peoples Congress, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao announced wide-ranging economic reforms of epoch-making significance, including a new labor law that would crack down on inhumane working conditions. But the move sparked opposition from many American and European corporations, even though they have long claimed that their business activities in the Peoples Republic of China promote human rights. The first draft of the law would have required all employers in China to sign written

contracts with workers (preferably without fixed termination dates), restricted mass layoffs, increased severance pay and boosted the power of the government-sponsored All-China Federation of Trade Unions to negotiate layoffs, salaries, working conditions and internal company policies. In a suprise move, the government asked for public input. Nearly 200,000 comments were sent in. The responses were mostly from Chinese workers, but representatives of American and European business organizations, including the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, also chimed in, criticizing the proposed safeguards. They warned that the new law would discourage their corporate members from making further investments in China. The business community made its influence felt. Andreas Lauffs, a Hong Kong-based lawyer who advises Western corporations on Chinese employment law, says that in mid-January the Chinese government began circulating a second version of the law. Although much of the first version was left intact, companies no longer have to worry about union approval for changes such as conducting layoffs. Lauffs says he had expected government to simply ignore all the criticism. Frankly, I was surprised how big the changes were. This has pro-labor groups in the United States crying foul.

Neolib Link Reform is only a masked force of capitalism that attempts to whitewash the oppression of the capitalist state by appealing to our altruistic ideals Bolman and Hodgman 2011 Brad Bolman - Social Studies at Harvard University & Thomas
Hodgman - Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley. Can We (Still) Be i ekians and Ranci reans http://zizekstudies.org/index.php/ijzs/article/viewFile/313/409 Even more importantly, the forces against capitalism are repurposed and re- presented as forces for capitalism. Starbucks is an instructive example: a bottle of water or cup of coffee often comes with special arrangements that provide a small donation to some charity with each purchase. Each cup you buy from the particular Starbucks you frequent, then, directly helps those less fortunate than yourself. Its hard to argue with this logic for two reasons. First, it increases the utility of the purchase you get not just a cup of coffee but also the feeling of being a good Samaritan.4 Second, it serves to whitewash the role Starbucks plays in unfair circulations of capital, labor abuses, and the fact that your cup of coffee is already substantially overpriced: you were going to purchase it anyways, why not feel a little better about the process? It is precisely the ideological underpinnings here that color this quotidian exchange in a very different light. There is, further, something very powerful in linking common symbols: your cup of coffee comes branded not only with a Starbucks logo, but also, implicitly, with the face of the starving Third World child that we all know so well from endlessly repeated television advertisements and various international charity campaigns. How can you argue with a company when it has Third World children on its side? This face job of capitalism is also clear in the increasingly popular reality shows that focus on wealthy million/billionaires who take time out of their otherwise perfect lives to go work with truly poor individuals. In Undercover Boss, CEOs dress up in a disguise and go to work with workers in the lowest tiers of their respective companies. After spending some gritty time at the bottom, witnessing first-hand the unfortunate circumstances that their own corporate decisions have created for lower-echelon workers, each boss reveals his/her true identity and writes a check to remedy some wrongs, changes a rule or two, and goes back to how he or she acted before. This time, however, they will remember that the people they hire are real just like they are! The workers are, of course, floored that their CEOs are coming to work with them and this is taken as evidence of the magical power of capitalism: CEOs are not the evil monsters they are made out to be by leftists. Instead, they are people just like us and they understand our pain. But this is exactly the wrong way to view Undercover Boss: it is a surprise precisely because we dont expect CEOs to do these sorts of things. A large number of CEOs around the world are implementing ethically atrocious policies without humanely considering the individual links in their supply chain: think of the factory workers making less than a dollar per day creating shoes that cost over one-hundred or the refusal of major energy companies and operators of toxic waste dumps to take responsibility for medical problems created by their operations. Do we see the heads of toxic waste disposal companies visiting the sewage burials and spending a day in the life? No, and this is precisely the lesson that needs to be taken: the workers in Undercover Boss should reverse the camera and ask why the CEO is not working alongside them every day. If Undercover Boss is evidence that even the individuals who profit most from capitalism can change their practices, we should take this to its extreme: every company should change until the proposal of Undercover Boss as a television show would seem needlessly repetitive. Undercover Boss? We are all our own bosses! But instead, at the end of the day, all Undercover Boss gives the audience is a slightly

altered body with a brand new face. Or perhaps more insidiously, the iron fist receives a shiny white glove

Econ Defense
Manufacturing moving from China to Mexico now Appliance Manufacturing 7/3/2013 News and information for international appliance
industry Report: Mexico Cheaper than China for Manufacturing Appliances http://www.appliancemagazine.com/news.php?article=1684614 Manufacturing in Mexico will increasingly offer cost advantages over manufacturing in China and other major economies, according to new research by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), which foresees manufacturing adding $20 billion to $60 billion in output to Mexico's economy annually within the next five years. The group said that, with the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), U.S. manufacturers of components for finished goods assembled in Mexico also stand to benefit. The group said Mexico's improving competitive edge is driven by relatively low labor costs and shorter supply chains, which results from Mexico's closer proximity to U.S. markets. Mexico also has an important advantage in its 44 free-trade agreements, which allow many of its exports to go into major economies with few or no duties. Mexico has more free-trade agreements than any other nation. The group pointed to tipping point that was reached in 2012. It was then that the average manufacturing cost in Mexico, adjusted for productivity, became less than the costs in China. BCG projects that, by 2015, average total manufacturing costs in Mexico could be about 6% less than in China and 20%-30% lower than in Japan, Germany, Italy, and Belgium. "Mexico is in a strong position to be a significant winner from shifts in the global economy," said Harold L. Sirkin, a BCG senior partner. "That is good news not only for Mexico, which relies on exports for around one-third of its GDP. It's also good for America, since products made in Mexico contain four times as many U.S.-made parts, on average, as those made in China."

Solvency D

The norms program was already has failed before MeM 1/24/13 The MeM - think tank for Business Ethics edited economic issues of our time
from a paradigmatic novel, ethical and integrated view of the economy. The Public Eye Awards 2013 http://www.mem-wirtschaftsethik.de/blog/blog-einzelseite/article/the-public-e/ In 2004, after decades of efforts within the United Nations to regulate TNC on a global scale, the so called Draft Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights failed after fierce attacks from the business world. These were the heydays of neoliberalism and the ideology of laissez-faire and anti-regulation, which had afflicted nearly all political parties. These norms would have been the blueprint for the first global regulatory framework of corporations in human history. Their establishment would have put an end to playing off nations against nations at the cost of ethical standards.

Econ D
Maquiladoras are improving in safety and productivity-Juarez proves Megan Richford 5/1/13 Executive Marketing Assistant for NAPS- offers administrative support
services for companies manufacturing in Mexico. JUAREZ CRIME DECLINES, ECONOMY AND MANUFACTURING IN MEXICO IMPROVING http://news.cision.com/north-american-productionsharing--inc-/r/juarez-crime-declines--economy-and-manufacturing-in-mexicoimproving,c9409177 The economy is reviving, residents are feeling safe, and businesses and investors would be wise to consider opening operations in Juarez. Manufacturing in Mexico is bustling and promises to thrive for years to come, and Juarez is ideal for its central location, inexpensive real estate and highly trained labor force. The city of Juarez has gained negative attention worldwide for its violence and drug cartel activity. Juarez has become infamous as the murder capital of the world, amid harrowing tales of turf wars between drug cartels. This notoriety has prompted law enforcement and civic organizations to cooperate and produce real change. Maquiladora manufacturing plants account for 60% of the jobs in Juarez, and commerce between Juarez and El Paso, Texas has historically worked in productive partnership. Today, Mexico's economy is recovering very well, and businesses, particularly manufacturing companies, are once again looking to Juarez for a low-cost manufacturing solution. Companies that had shuttered are returning, and new companies are much more willing to consider Juarez than was true a few years ago. Manufacturing in Mexico today, including Juarez, is safe, credible and growing . The population is young and well educated, with an average age of 27. In fact, Juarez has the highest literacy of any city in Mexico. After years of avoiding the streets, except when necessary, locals now celebrate a return to normalcy. The army and federal agents withdrew at the close of 2011, and these days, Juarez boasts several new high schools and sports facilities, as well as a myriad of new restaurants, stores, and nightclubs. Of course, problems have not all ceased, and residents are still healing from the long period of fear and uncertainty. Nevertheless, the strong economy and undeniable positive signs in community life deserve much praise and provide real hope. Data indicate that incidences of homicide, kidnapping, theft, and other crimes have all drastically declined in the past year. President Calderon continues to earmark funds to sustain crackdowns on the warfare between the cartels. Hundreds of arrests have been made, and the local police force has made noticeable efforts to weed out and punish corruption among its ranks. Juarez is one of the premier locations for manufacturing in Mexico. Like Tijuana, its proximity to the United States enables businesses to avoid long transit times between production and distribution, and Juarezs central location is second to none. The environment is ripe for new businesses and investors to operate in Juarez and contribute to its flourishing economy.

Sexual Violence D
Alt causes to sexual violence are government corruption and drug violence
Jessica Wright 12/ 7/12 Jessica Wright was a counterterrorism analyst with the U.S. Department of Defense for seven years. She holds a MA in international security studies from Georgetown University and a MSc in violence, conflict, and development from the School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS) in London. Women Under Seige-Mexico http://www.womenundersiegeproject.org/conflicts/profile/mexico To exert state power: A 2012 report analyzing the effects of violence on women in Mexico, coproduced by the Nobel Womens Initiative and JASS, found that government officials and their security forces were often the worst perpetrators of sexualized violence and used it as a tool to intimidate and subdue women. The 45,000 troops deployed by President Felipe Caldern Hinojosa in 2007 to fight drug cartels contribute to a growing culture of violence and fear, especially for women, youth, indigenous communities, and migrants who are vulnerable in the face of the corrupt and often misogynist security institutions. Francisco Gonzlez, a professor of Latin
American Studies at Johns Hopkins Universitys School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, argues in a 2011 Current History article: It is not far-fetched to say that the average Mexican citizen lives in fear of both criminals and public authorities.

To silence activists: President-elect Enrique Pea Nieto was governor of the State of Mexico in 2006 when protests against the building of a new airport in San Salvador Atenco erupted into violence. Two protesters were killed and 26 women were sexually assaulted by state and federal authorities. Lul Barrera, the president of the steering committee for Amnesty International, Mexico, said she believes the assaults were a tool to demonstrate political control and power and to deliver a clear,
threatening message to other protesters. As of this publication, not a single police officer has been found guilty of assaults. When recently confronted by college students in Mexico City about the lack of justice surrounding the incidents, Pea Nieto was

unapologetic and argued that he had used necessary force to restore public order. To make money: Increasingly, women are being used by drug cartels to transport drugs and fulfill logistical roles. However, Mexican crime groups also earn huge profits in the prostitution industry and have forcibly kidnapped women to traffic them across the border into the U.S. Its
the third most profitable market after drugs and small arms for organized crime, said Teresa Inchustegui, former director of the National Womens Institute in Mexico City and representative to Mexicos Chamber of Deputies. Paradoxically, she told WMCs Women Under Siege, its a well-known phenomenon but at the same time very hidden, and many people think that authorities are involved with the trafficking of women. Women face torture, rape, and murder at the hands of criminals and state agents while being transported from rural areas to larger Mexican cities and across the border.

Targeting drug war and police repression are necessary to stop violence Ella Kirchner on 8/1/, 2012 The Latin American Working Group Violence Against Women on
the Rise in Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala http://www.lawg.org/action-center/lawgblog/69/1057 "The war on drugs in Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala has become a war on women," say Nobel Peace Laureates Jody Williams and Rigoberta Mench. Women in these countries are at an increased risk of gender-based violence, including murder, rape, forced disappearances, and arbitrary detention. Violence is on the rise in all three countries, due to many factors, including the war on drugs. The vast majority of violent crimes are not investigated or prosecuted in these countries, which has created an atmosphere of impunity for the perpetrators. More than 95 percent of crimes against women in Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala go unpunished. This lack
of justice discourages victims from reporting crimes when doing so is unlikely to result in convictions. In addition, victims may be targeted if they attempt to bring charges or to call attention to the problem. In particular, women human rights defenders, journalists, indigenous activists or women who are otherwise advocating for change in their communities are targeted. The Nobel

Women's Initiative and Just Associates released a report titled From Survivors to Defenders: Women Confronting Violence in Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala, which brings awareness to this crisis of violence against women in Mexico and Central America.

The report calls attention to gender-based violence against women in all three countries, including how and why sexual violence is used as a tool to silence women human rights defenders. They conclude that gender-based violence is used as a tactic to silence and intimidate communities and people advocating for change. Circumstances in each country have resulted in a dramatic increase in violence in the last several years , such as the Honduran coup in
2009 and violence caused by the war on drugs in Mexico. However, this increase in violence has manifested in different ways for women than it has for men. In Honduras, for instance, the homicide rate for women has been increasing four times faster than that of men, according to Gilda Rivera, of the Center for Women's Rights in that country. More than half of acts and threats of violence against women human rights defenders were committed by government security forces and other government members.

The report comes to the conclusion that Increasing militarization and police repression under the guise of the war on drugs has led to more violence overall and more frequent attacks on women, who lead efforts to protect their communities against threats to their lands and natural resources, and protest military and police abuses. The report names several strategies for reducing this crisis of violence against women in Mexico and Central America. First, we need to publically denounce violence against women and women human rights defenders in order to bring attention to the issue. In addition, we must prioritize human rights and womens human rights in foreign policymaking. We should also support womens organizations in these countries whenever possible, so as to support the work that these women are doing to fight for justice.

Stuff
Labor reforms only benefit the 1% Bacon 2011 (A Labor Law Bosses Would Love
Backed by industrialists, Mexican politicians are on the verge of erasing most workers' rights, David Bacon April 19, 2011) Changing labor law sounds like some technical modification, a subject lawyers argue about in musty hearing rooms. In Mexico, it has been front-page news for weeks, as the government considers overhauling the rules governing millions of workers. Changing the country's Federal Labor Law-as described by a bill lawmakers proposed in early March-would transform their lives, and cement the power of a group of industrialists who have been on the political offensive for decades and who now control Mexico's presidency and national government. " Labor law reform will only benefit the country's oligarchs," claims Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who many, if not most, Mexicans think actually won the last presidential election in 2006, as candidate of the left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution. Napoleon Gomez Urrutia, head of the miner's union who was forced into exile in Canada in 2006, says Mexico's old governing party, the Party of the Institutionalized Revolution (PRI), "is trying to assure its return by making this gift to big business, putting an end to labor rights." PRI members presented the bill to Mexico's lower house on March 10; a vote may be held as soon as this week.

Mexico is already reforming Labor Laws in the squo

Graham 2012 (Analysis: Mexican labor reform signals battles ahead for Pena Nieto, By Dave Graham, October 2, 2012 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/02/us-mexico-penanietoidUSBRE89112B20121002) On Saturday , the lower house of Congress gave its approval to the biggest overhaul of Mexico's job market in over 40 years , a bill designed to restrict labor lawsuits, regulate outsourcing and make it easier for employers to hire and fire workers. The reform was proposed by outgoing President Felipe Calderon, though Pena Nieto's support helped it along and he will be a major beneficiary when he takes power on December 1. By the time it was approved, however, PRI legislators had stripped it of elements hostile to trade unions, a bastion of PRI support derided by many Mexicans as corrupt. The labor proposal, which must still pass the Senate, would check off one of Pena Nieto's three main economic campaign pledges. PRI officials are confident the bill will become law. But the bumpy ride it had in the lower house was a sample of the challenges Pena Nieto faces persuading his party to accept reforms that go against its natural instincts.

Mexico is our enemy Diamond 2009 ( Our enemy to the south Diane Diamond, Journalist, Huffington Post,
March 9, 2011; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diane-dimond/our-enemy-to-thesouth_b_170764.html) It is a politically incorrect thing to say but I'm going to say it anyway . Mexico is our enemy . Drug desperadoes are, in effect, running that country now and have rendered the Mexican government nearly impotent. It's gotten so bad, for example, that the Mayor of Juarez has fled

his country in fear, along with his entire family. They've moved to America! Just how Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz plans to govern from El Paso, Texas is not known. His safety now rests squarely on the shoulders of the El Paso Police Department.

Mexico is not our ally

Death 2010 (Jack Death August 12, 2010, CNN, Mexico Is Our Enemy, http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-481332) ENEMY, international law. By this term is understood the whole body of a nation at war with another. It also signifies a citizen or subject of such a nation, as when we say an alien enemy. In a still more extended sense, the word includes any of the subjects or citizens of a state in amity with the United States, who, have commenced, or have made preparations for commencing hostilities against the United States; and also the citizens or subjects of a state in amity with the United States, who are in the service of a state at war with them. Amity: Friendship, in a general sense, between individuals, societies, or nations; friendly relations; good understanding; as, a treaty of amity and commerce; the amity of the Whigs and Tories. Mexico is supposedly in amity with the United States. I say they are in fact our enemy. We are slowly being occupied by Mexican Nationals. The Mexican Government condones, supports, and prints up desert survival guides for their citizens. The Mexican President got to stand up in front of our leadership and chastise us for not doing more to propogate the illegal over running of our border States.

CNDH Advantage CP

Counterplan Text:
The CNDH(Comisin Nacional de los Derechos Humanos) should -actively press state institutions to remedy human rights abuses - Promote reforms to harmonize Mexican law with international human rights norms - Increase public access to information regarding its work - Ensure petitioners' participation in the conciliation process and have the Senate Human Rights commission Conduct routine and rigorous evaluations of the CNDH's performance and impact

CNDH Solves H.R

CP effectively remediates ALL human rights abuses in Mexico Human Rights Watch Report '08 (Mexico's National Human Rights Commission, A critical Assessment pg online @ http://www.refworld.org/topic,50ffbce520b,50ffbce520e,47b40d0b2,0,,,MEX.h tml)
Actively press state institutions to remedy human rights abuses While the CNDH's
recommendations are not binding on other state entities, the CNDH can and should take concrete steps to promote greater implementation of its recommendations. First, the CNDH should end the practice of abandoning its work on cases after issuing recommendations for remedying them. Specifically, the CNDH should instruct its investigators to actively monitor the handling of abuse cases by government officials, even in the following situations: when government officials reject its recommendations; when the CNDH presents its findings in a "special report"; when the CNDH presents its findings in a "general recommendation"; and when the CNDH requests government officials to carry out criminal and/or administrative investigations. Secondly, when the CNDH finds that state actors are failing to implement a recommendation, it should actively press these actors to fulfill their obligations to remedy abuses. Specifically, it should: advocate for administrative sanctions to be imposed on officials who fail to address the human rights violations it documents; document and publicly denounce government officials' failure to remedy abuses in accordance with its recommendations; and take cases to international human rights bodies when the government fails to respond to its recommendations. Promote reforms

to harmonize Mexican law with international human rights norms The CNDH
should take concrete steps to promote changes to those Mexican laws and policies that directly violate international human rights standards or indirectly serve to perpetuate abusive practices. First, it should apply international human rights standards in a consistent and rigorous fashion when evaluating Mexican laws, regulations, policies, and practices. Secondly, when it determines that such laws, regulations, policies, or practices contradict international human rights standards, the CNDH should press for their reform. Specifically, it should: draft legislation aimed at harmonizing Mexican law with international human rights standards; actively campaign to secure the passage of proposed reforms into law; and actively support reform initiatives advanced by other state institutions and non-state actors. Increase public

access to information regarding its work The CNDH should increase public access
to the information it collects on human rights abuses and abusive state practices,

and increase transparency in all areas of work. Specifically, the CNDH should: apply the principle of "maximum disclosure" when interpreting all laws and policies and when analyzing all information requests; modify its implementing regulations of the federal transparency law to eliminate overly broad confidentiality exceptions and limit the period of time during which it can reserve information on concluded cases; grant petitioners access to information held in CNDH files regarding their own cases; publically disclose information in all cases of serious human rights violations; publically disclose information regarding the conciliation agreements it signs, including the human rights violations documented in the agreements, the reparations agreed upon, and the degree to which government institutions subsequently comply with the terms of the agreements; and adopt clear guidelines for producing public versions of documents that withhold only personal data and other privileged and confidential information regarding the identity of petitioners and victims in cases. Ensure petitioners' participation in the conciliation

process The CNDH should ensure petitioners' participation in the conciliation of

abuse cases. Specifically, it should: reach conciliation agreements only in those instances where it has first obtained the explicit consent of petitioners; consult with petitioners regarding the content of conciliation agreements prior to signing; and keep petitioners informed of the extent to which government officials comply with the agreements. To the Senate Human Rights Commission Conduct routine and rigorous evaluations of the CNDH's performance and impact As the main external overseer of the CNDH's work, the Senate Human Rights Commission should thoroughly evaluate all areas of the commission's work on a regular basis. First, the Senate Human Rights Commission should conduct public hearings throughout the year to discuss the CNDH's performance. Specifically, it should: ensure that these hearings entail a serious and thorough examination of the CNDH's policies, practices, and results; invite civil society organizations and victims of human rights abuses who have taken their cases to the CNDH to meetings in which they can provide insights on the CNDH's work; take advantage of the information provided by civil society groups and victims to identify issues that require sustained monitoring and attention throughout the year; and organize frequent meetings with the appropriate CNDH staff to discuss progress on identified institutional flaws. Secondly, the Senate Human Rights Commission should promote civil society participation in the process of vetting candidates for the CNDH presidency and advisory council. Specifically, it should: select a short list of candidates from a list of proposals submitted by civil society organizations, and require the candidates to present their views in public hearings; open a consultation process with civil society organizations after the short list is drafted and the hearings take place so as to allow these groups to comment on the

candidates and the content of their proposals; and include a detailed and substantive analysis of contestants' qualifications in its final decision, taking into account the input provided by civil society organizations. Finally, the Senate Human Rights Commission should monitor the CNDH's budget to ensure that the manner in which the funds are spent contributes in the best possible way to its mission and purpose . To do so, it should: request that the Vigilance Commission of the Federal Superior Auditor i n the House of Representatives solicit a comprehensive performance evaluation of the CNDH by the Federal Superior Auditor (Auditoria Superior de la Federacion, ASF) to assess whether the CNDH is using available human, material, financial, and technological resources efficiently to fulfill the purposes for which it was created; and use the information provided by a performance evaluation by the ASF to analyze the CNDH's work and to press the CNDH to improve its practices.

CNDH has the authority to remedy human rights Human Rights Watch Report '08 (Mexico's National Human Rights Commission, A critical Assessment pg online @ http://www.refworld.org/topic,50ffbce520b,50ffbce520e,47b40d0b2,0,,,MEX.h tml)
Mexican law grants the CNDH ample authority to promote reforms aimed at improving human rights practices. It may propose changes to laws, regulations, and governing practices to increase the respect of human rights.157 Since November 2000, the CNDH has had the power to issue "general recommendations" that address general practices and legal norms that undermine human rights protections.158 And since April 2006, it has had the power to challenge before the Supreme Court the constitutionality of federal or state laws that violate human rights standards established in the Mexican Constitution.159

CNDH Failing Now

CNDH fails to follow through on recommendations Human Rights Watch Report '08 (Mexico's National Human Rights Commission, A critical Assessment pg online @ http://www.refworld.org/topic,50ffbce520b,50ffbce520e,47b40d0b2,0,,,MEX.h tml)
Even when its recommendations are accepted, the CNDH often fails to ensure that they are actually implemented. This practice is particularly pronounced in the case of recommendations involving criminal or administrative investigations. (Approximately half of the recomendaciones the CNDH issued between 2000 and 2006 called for criminal or administrative investigations, or both). In the case of criminal investigations, CNDH officials argue that they do not have the legal authority to scrutinize the work of public prosecutors. They cannot monitor the progress of criminal investigations,123 nor evaluate their quality.124 The reason, they claim, is that Mexican law only allows them to request that investigations be carried out, but it is entirely up to the prosecutors themselves to determine how this is done. Status Quo CNDH initiatives fail- Only a reform can solve

Human Rights Watch Report '08 (Mexico's National Human Rights Commission, A critical Assessment pg online @ http://www.refworld.org/topic,50ffbce520b,50ffbce520e,47b40d0b2,0,,,MEX.h tml)
The National Human Rights Commission (Comision Nacional de los Derechos Humanos, CNDH), Mexico's official human rights organ, is failing to live up to its promise. The CNDH has made some valuable contributions to human rights promotion in Mexico over the years, providing detailed and authoritative information on specific human rights cases and usefully documenting some systemic obstacles to human rights progress. But when it comes to actually securing remedies and promoting reforms to improve Mexico's dismal human rights record, the CNDH's performance has been disappointing. The CNDH's principal objective is to ensure that the Mexican state remedies human rights abuses and reforms the laws, policies, and practices that give rise to them. Given the pervasive and chronic failure of state institutions to do either, the CNDH is often the only meaningful recourse available to victims seeking redress for past abuses. It is also, potentially, the most important catalyst for the changes that are urgently needed in Mexico to prevent future human rights violations. The CNDH's failure to carry out these functions effectively has not been due to a lack of resources . The CNDH's 2007 budget of approximately US$73 million is by far the largest of any ombudsman's office in the Americas and one of the largest in the world. It has over 1,000 employees, including knowledgeable and experienced professionals who are genuinely committed to promoting

human rights. Nor has the problem been the CNDH's mandate, which is broadly defined to include both "protecting" and "promoting" human rights, or its legal powers, which provide ample tools to pursue this broad mandate. Rather, the reason for the CNDH's limited impact has been its own policies and practices. The CNDH has not made full use of its broad mandate and immense resources. It has routinely failed to press state institutions to remedy the abuses it has documented, to promote reforms needed to prevent those abuses, to challenge abusive laws, policies, and practices that contradict international human rights standards, to disclose and disseminate information it has collected on human rights problems, and to engage constructively with some key actors who are seeking to promote human rights progress in Mexico. The CNDH could play a far more active role in improving the human rights situation in Mexico. But for an institution of this kind to be a catalyst for change, rather than merely a chronicler of the status quo, it must be resourceful, creative, proactive, and persistent in promoting solutions to the country's human rights problems.

SEMARNAT Advantage CP

Plan Text
The United States should fully fund and provide technical assistance to the Mexican SEMARNAT (Secretara del Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales) program via the CEC (North American Commission for Environment Cooperation).

CEC solves
CEC funding and technical assistance solves US-Mex Binational Council 2001
(New

Horizons in United States-Mexico Relations A report by the U.S.-Mexico Binational Council, University of Texas at Austin Staff, CSIS Mexico Project Staff, Centro de Investigacion para el Desarrollo Staff, Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico Staff. September 2001.http://books.google.com/books?id=u5tZkxsqSYsC&pg=PA36&lpg=PA36&dq=Funding+Governmental+Capacity+to+Protect+the+Environment+The+implementation+of+N
AFTA+and+its+environmental+side+accord+has+pushed+Mexico+and+its+Environmental+and+Natural+Resources+Ministry+(SEMARNAT)+to+a+level+of+environmental+perfor mance+for+which+it+is+both+underfunded+and+unprepared.+SEMARNAT+needs+assistance+in+developing+both+its+institutional+and+its+technical+ability+to+implement+do mestic+environmental+programs+and+international+cooperative+efforts.+Therefore,+additional&source=bl&ots=S4pqSdKB0N&sig=oFHrZkeKbXTJUKpUy_Ja30VI7mI&hl=en&sa =X&ei=xLj5UZKLAcTCywH_jYEg&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Funding%20Governmental%20Capacity%20to%20Protect%20the%20Environment%20The%20implementati on%20of%20NAFTA%20and%20its%20environmental%20side%20accord%20has%20pushed%20Mexico%20and%20its%20Environmental%20and%20Natural%20Resources%20 Ministry%20(SEMARNAT)%20to%20a%20level%20of%20environmental%20performance%20for%20which%20it%20is%20both%20underfunded%20and%20unprepared.%20SEM ARNAT%20needs%20assistance%20in%20developing%20both%20its%20institutional%20and%20its%20technical%20ability%20to%20implement%20domestic%20environmental %20programs%20and%20international%20cooperative%20efforts.%20Therefore%2C%20additional&f=false).

Funding Governmental Capacity to Protect the Environment The implementation of NAFTA and its environmental side accord has pushed Mexico and its Environmental and Natural Resources Ministry (SEMARNAT) to a level of environmental performance for which it is both underfunded and unprepared. SEMARNAT needs assistance in developing both its institutional and its technical ability to implement domestic environmental programs and international cooperative efforts. Therefore, additional funding should be provided and augmented by technical assistance from the United States via the CEC, along the lines proposed below. Binational Advisory Committees Independent consulting committees from both countries-including nongovernmental organizations-should work together to establish clear-cut environmental goals. These committees should also set goals and time frames for providing technical assistance to Mexican federal authorities. Harmonization of Indicators The two countries should work to improve and harmonize environmental indicators in the existing databases on environmental indicators for both countries. This measure will make clear country-to-country' comparisons possible. State and Local Authority The federal governments of both nations should look for creative opportunities to divest power to the states and localities. A presidential directive can make it possible, tor example, to authorize transboundary port authorities to manage fees and float bonds similar to the functions performed by the Port Authorits' of New York and New Jersey. State and Local Taxation Mexicos federal government should enhance the authority' of local and state governments to assess and collect taxes for infrastructure development and to incur debt to finance such projects. Technical Assistance to the States Federal U.S. funding should include technical assistance for environmental programs that are jointly undertaken by individual states in Mexico and in the United States. Nonprofit Sector Contributions Regional nonprofit organizations have been helpful in the binational environ men- tal relationship, including the updating of Mexico's emissions inventory system and increased application and implementation ot" current environmental laws. Enhanced U.S. and international funding can be provided to activities of nonprofit organizations that are aimed at solving environmental problems in the border region.

SEMARNAT solves
SEMARNAT solves all Mexican environmental and biodiversity concerns MENR 1-24-13
(The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources in Mexico. What is SEMARNAT SEMARNAT. January 24, 2013. **Note: this article was translated from Spanish to English** http://www.semarnat.gob.mx/english/whoweare/Pages/whatis.aspx.) The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) is the Federal Government's dependence in charge of impelling the protection, restoration and conservation of the ecosystems, natural resources and environmental services of Mexico, with the purpose of propitiating their use and sustainable development. To fulfill this command SEMARNAT, their three Subsecretaries and the diverse agencies that are part of the Environmental Federal Sector, work in four high-priority aspects: .: The conservation and sustainable use of the ecosystems and their biodiversity .: The prevention and control of pollution .: The integral management of the hydric resources .: The combat to the climatic change. Conservation and sustainable use of the ecosystems and their biodiversity. Conserving ecosystems and sustainable use is critical to stem the erosion of natural capital, national heritage conservation and generate income and jobs for Mexicans, and contribute to the environmental sustainability of national development . To achieve this, we develop various programs and environmental policy instruments among which are: Prorbol, Protected Areas Program, Federal Management Units for the Conservation of Wildlife, the Program of Payments for Environmental Services and the prevention and combat of forest fires. Prevention and control of pollution. To achieve the health of people and ecosystems it is necessary to prevent, reduce and control waste generation and emissions that affect soils, water and air . That is why SEMARNAT develops important efforts as the implementation of programs of Air Quality Management, implementation of the National Program for Prevention and Integrated Waste Management and the drive to the establishment of state and municipal waste management strategies, the Register of Emissions and transfer of pollutants, remediation of contaminated sites and the comprehensive management of chemicals and hazardous materials, in addition to monitoring the strict enforcement of environmental legislation by conducting any inspection, monitoring and environmental auditing. Integral management of hydric resources. Water is one of the most valuable natural resources of the planet, without this vital fluid life would not be possible, therefore, ensure supplies to the Mexicans, and to achieve the proper management and preservation of water in basins and aquifers is indispensable to achieve social welfare, economic development and preserve the quality of the environment. Therefore, the national water policy is designed to ensure that Mexico has water in sufficient quantity and quality, recognize its strategic value, use it efficiently and protect water bodies to ensure sustainable development. In this sense, SEMARNAT and federal environmental sector agencies, develop different strategies, among which are: the Water Supply, Sewerage and Sanitation in Urban Areas and the Program for Construction and Rehabilitation of Potable Water and Sanitation in rural Areas; the Program for Modernization of water utilities, Water

Programs for Basin Organizations, the Rehabilitation and Modernization of Irrigation Districts, as well as the development of administrative capabilities to improve compliance of water law and promote a better paying culture. Combating climate change. Climate change poses the greatest threat to the survival of mankind and the development of nations, because, besides putting the population at risk for adverse effects, which mainly include variability and climate extremes, directly affects the loss of biodiversity and the capacity of ecosystems to provide goods and services. SEMARNAT is responsible for the conduction of the national policy about climatic change, developing in combined way with the federal agencies, actions to allow the mitigation an adaptation to the effects of this phenomenon. Mexico, now has a Special Climate Change Program (pecc) that emerges from the National Climate Change Strategy (enacc) introduncing pecc in 2007; basing its actions in promoting the development of society initiatives and policies and programs to restore the integrity of economic and ecological systems, redirecting development towards sustainability. To achieve the mitigation of the causes of climate change, SEMARNAT and Federal Government agencies promote a deep transformation of the forms of production and consumption, energy use and natural resource management, as well as forms of occupation and land use. As for the adaptation, which comes first is to know precisely the country's vulnerability and priority measures in economic evaluations, second is to strengthen the strategic capacities of adaptation, and thirdly, it is necessary to strengthen the built capacities. Other important actions . Caring for the environment and ensure sustainability of natural resources requires a large number of coordinated actions. Other important actions that take place in the Federal Environmental Sector are: .: The promotion of ecological land management that seeks to identify and utilize the productive potential of the country, through actions to ensure compliance and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems. .: The modernization of the instruments and environmental management to achieve better implementation and to ensure that activities of individuals , businesses and governments respect national environmental priorities and maintain consistency with international commitments made by the country. .: The promotion and strengthening of the education, training, awareness and information society in environmental and natural resources, to foster the generation of values, attitudes, behaviors and insights that enable all people to be partners in improving country's environment and thus, the quality of life of Mexicans.

Aff Updates

T
Human Rights Policy is a critical part of economic engagement Aguirre 12[1/20/12, Lecturer in International Law and Human Rights at Regent's College,
http://jurist.org/forum/2013/01/human-rights-the-asean-way.php, Human Rights the ASEAN Way ASEAN's policy with its recalcitrant members has always been one of economic engagement. It
is argued that this policy can coax dictatorial states out of isolation. Critics argue that engagement permits human rights violations to continue for decades while regional elites enrich themselves. Either way, these

states now seem willing to recognize a regional human rights protection system if it will increases legitimacy and promote foreign investment. In this context, the existence of the AICHR risks legitimizing the status quo. It may provide
window dressing that would reduce pressure to reform from other states, from international organizations, and civil society. Human rights treaties serve to signal change. This can

result in substantial economic benefits through development aid or foreign investment. Development aid or the proceeds of foreign investment in the hands
of extremely corrupted officials for example Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar ranking respectively numbers 154, 164 and 180 out of 182 countries in the 2011 Corruption Perception Index can

reinforce human rights-violating authoritarian

regimes.

HR
Respect for human rights key to preventing democide John Linarelli 96, Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown University, DENVER JOURNAL OF
INTERNATIONAL LAW AND POLICY, Spring 1996, p. 253. (DRG/C800)
Liberal democracy and the rule of law ( in the broadest sense) are valuable to the new world order centrally and fundamentally because an impressive body of human knowledge now tells us unmistakably that there is a direct correlation betweenthese concepts and: human rights, the avoidance of government-sponsored "democide"(the massive killing of a nation's own population and the most extreme human rights failure of government), vigorous economic progress, and the avoidance of a synergy that has produced the major international wars of this century. In short, the spread of liberal democracy, or at least the minimization of totalitarianism, is of the greatest importance in realizing fundamental human aspirations.

Respect for human rights is key to stop internal and external warfare John Linarelli 96, Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown University, DENVER JOURNAL OF
INTERNATIONAL LAW AND POLICY, Spring 1996, p. 253. (DRG/C799) Peace and respect for human rights are closely interconnected.Professor Myres McDougal has described the relationship between peace and human rights as follows: The most relevant conception of peace must make reference to the least possible application of violence and coercion to the individual human being and to the freedom of access of the individual to all cherished values. For community members and their decision-makers alike, a viable conception
of peace cannot today be limited to reference to a mere absence of armed, and international, conflict. The peace demanded by contemporary humankind is not that of the concentration camp (however large) or that of the living dead (whatever the community).

Human rights protection vital to real peace Mark Katayanagi 02, Embassy of Japan, Sarajevo and Bosnia, Human Rights Functions of the
United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, 2002, p. 269 (HARVUN1747) Peace and security hardly exist where human rights are threatened. Building a system that protects and promotes human rights helps in transforming a society where people have been subjected to coercion and violence into one that is governed by the rule of law. The peacekeeping operations may contribute in this Process through human rights functions which bridge the international human rights law and humanitarian law and the lawless reality on the ground.

The protection of human rights prevents war William W. Burke-White 04, Lecturer in Public and International Affairs, Princeton
University, THE HARVARD ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REVIEW, Spring 2004, p. 265-266. (DRGCL/B1074) By ensuring a minimum treatment of the unrepresented, human rights protections prevent the government from externalizing the costs of aggressive behavior on the unrepresented. In human rights respecting states, for example, unrepresented individuals cannot be forced at gunpoint to fight or be bound into slavery to generate low-cost economic resources for war, and thus restrain the state from engaging in aggressive action. On the other
hand, in a state where power is narrowly concentrated in the hands of a political elite that systematically represses its own people, the state will be more able to bear the domestic costs of war. By violating the human rights of its own citizens, a state can force

individuals to fight or support the military apparatus in its war-making activities. Similarly, by denying basic human rights, a state may be better able to bear the political costs of war.

Protection of human rights is necessary for the security of millions Paul Hoffman 04, Chair of the International Executive Committee of Amnesty International,
HUMAN RIGHTS QUARTERLY, November 2004, p. 932-935. (DRGCL/B1073) For hundreds of millions of people in the world today, the most important source of insecurity is not a terrorist threat but grinding, extreme poverty. More than a billion of the world's six billion people live on less than one dollar a day. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the entire human rights framework is based on the indivisibility of human rights. This includes
not only civil and political rights but also economic, social, and cultural rights. The discrepancy between these human rights promises and the reality of life for more than one-sixth of the world's people must be eliminated if terrorism is to be controlled. Every human

being is entitled to a standard of living that allows for their health and wellbeing, including food, shelter, and medical care. Yet more than three thousand African children die of malaria each day. Only a tiny percentage of the twenty-six million people infected with HIV/AIDS have access to the health care and medicine they need to survive. Many additional examples could be given. Many governments have adopted the Millennium Development Goals to be achieved by 2015. The goals include targets for child and infant mortality, the availability of primary education for all children, halving the number of people without access to clean water along with many others. According to the World Bank, these goals will not be achieved, in part because the "war on terrorism" is shifting attention and resources away from long-term development issues. How can we eradicate violent challenges to the existing world order if education is not universal? Without education and peaceful exchanges between peoples, the "war on terrorism" will only succeed in creating new generations of warriors. Why is terrorism given more attention than the scourge of violence against women? Millions of women are terrorized in their daily lives, yet no "war" on violence against women is being waged. Clearly, this problem is more widespread than terrorist violence and invariably makes women insecure as well as second-class citizens in every corner of the world. If some of the resources and attention devoted to the "war on terrorism" were diverted to the eradication of world poverty or eliminating violence against women, would the world be more secure? There is no easy answer to this question, but the "war on terrorism" seems to sideline any serious discussions, along with any serious action on the other pressing causes of human insecurity.

True security depends on all of the world's peoples having a stake in the international system and receiving the basic rights promised by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, regardless of race, gender, religion, or any other status.

Human rights are fundamental to deny them is to challenge ones very humanity Natsu Taylor Saito 02, Professor of Law, Georgia State University College of Law, Yale Law &
Policy Review, 2002, 20 Yale L. &Pol'y Rev. 427, p. 427-8 (HARVCL3594) There is a nexus between the abolition or the diminution of [the precepts of American slavery jurisprudence] as advocated by the slavemasters in power in the American colonial and antebellum periods and the efforts in this decade to advocate universal human rights for all. The more we appreciate
the extraordinary injustice of the original precepts, the more persistent we will be in eradicating the vestiges of those precepts in the United States and the equivalent denigration throughout the world. Nelson Mandela reminded a joint session of the United States Congress in 1990 that "to deny any person their human rights is to challenge their very humanity."

Human rights law is a subset of international law designed to protect certain fundamental rights of individuals and of ethnic, religious, racial, and national minorities within states. It also encompasses the rights of peoples to self-determination. Since World War II the major world powers have

acknowledged that these universal principles of human rights must be accepted as binding on all states, because the domestic laws that protect the rights of "insiders" often fail to protect those regarded as "Other" within the polity. n4 The colonial legacy of the arbitrary imposition of state boundaries upon indigenous nations in almost every part of the world makes international human rights law particularly important.

BioD
Maquiladoras produce insane amounts of pollution right next to the Tijuana River. Godoy 11[Emilio, Mexico-based correspondent who covers the environment, human rights
and sustainable development. He has been a journalist since 1996 and has written for various media outlets in Mexico, Central America and Spain, MEXICO: Maquiladora Factories Manufacture Toxic Pollutants, http://www.ipsnews.net/2011/08/mexico-maquiladorafactories-manufacture-toxic-pollutants/, 8/3/11] MEXICO CITY, Aug 23 2011 (IPS) - Since the 1960s, maquiladoras or export assembly plants have been the cornerstone of Mexicos strategy to attract foreign direct investment and boost exports. But the environmental and social costs have been high.Maquiladoras, which in Mexico mainly produce clothing, cars and electronic equipment, consume huge volumes of water, generate hazardous waste products like alcohols, benzene, acetone, acids and plastic and metal debris, and emit polluting gases.The plants, which take advantage of Mexicos low wages, tax exemptions, and flexible labour laws while in return providing jobs, cause significant environmental damages.Government oversight is poor. There arent enough inspectors. There is no obligatory inspection scheme, only a voluntary one, and inspections are arranged in advance, with no surprise visits, Magdalena Cerda, the Tijuana
representative for the Environmental Health Coalition (EHC), told IPS. We have seen gradual deterioration in the urban communities where the factories are located.About

3,000 maquiladoras operate in free trade zones in Mexico, employing some 1.5 million people, according to the National Council of the Maquiladora Export Industry (CNIMME). Most are located in the northern cities of Tijuana and Ciudad Jurez, on the U.S. border.The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which entered into force between Canada, Mexico and the United
States in 1994, prompted the installation of dozens of maquiladoras in Mexico to supply the U.S. market and profit from the Latin American countrys low labour costs. Average monthly wages in maquiladoras in the border zone are between 500 and 600 dollars.NAFTA includes provisions on labour conditions and environmental protection, but these have not been enforced with sufficient rigour to correct harmful employment and environmental practices, experts say.In 1983, the Mexican and U.S. governments signed the Border Environment Cooperation Agreement (BECA) on the management of toxic substances, with provisions for monitoring and preventing pollution in the border area.But NAFTA

eliminated the BECA requirement that foreign companies return toxic waste to their countries of origin, because Mexican environmental law permitted companies to store their hazardous waste material.The maquiladora sector, however, is willing to change its practices if it can continue to turn a profit, Francisco Lpez, the head of Valle Verde Ecoempresas, a consultancy advising companies on environmental responsibility,
told IPS.The Valle Verde consultancy emerged from a process that began in 2009 and involved academics, business executives and government officials working together to come up with measures the manufacturing sector could use to save electricity and boost energy efficiency.In March, Valle Verde launched a programme based on environmental education and energy efficiency, and promoted it among some 50 electronic assembly factories.Maquiladoras

have been criticised for their use of dangerous substances. For instance, in order to increase smoothness and strength in fabrics for making clothes, they are
treated with chemicals such as formaldehyde, caustic soda, sulphuric acid, bromine and sulphamide, all of which are health hazards, according the U.S. Organic Consumers Association.

The lack of regulations coupled with high levels of pollution spell disaster for the surrounding environment. NLM 13[http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/text_version/locations.php?id=35, What is a
maquiladora , National Library of Medicine, 7/29/13] The high concentration of maquiladoras combined with less rigorous environmental regulations, limited capacity to enforce environmental laws, and the expense of exporting

hazardous waste has created an incentive for illegal dumping and has polluted the surrounding land, water, and air. Inside the maquiladoras, occupational hazards relating to toxic chemical exposure and workplace safety also affect human health. Occupational hazards are of particular concern in Mexico since first-time violators are rarely punished and since penalties are typically incurred only for imminent dangers and failures to address previously highlighted violations. http://worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/na1201 A large number of specialist and endemic species of plants and animals are found here, including
the Quino checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas editha quino), Hermes copper butterfly (Lycaena hermes), San Diego thorn mint (Acanthomintha ilicifolia), San Diego ambrosia (Ambrosia pumila), San Diego barrel cactus (Ferocactus viridescens), San Diego pocket mouse (Perognathus fallax), Merriam kangaroo rat (Dipodomys merriami), Stephens kangaroo rat (Dipodomys stephensi), reddiamond rattlesnake (Crotalus ruber), San Diego banded gecko (Coleonyx variegatus abbotti), San Diego horned lizard (Phrynosoma coronatum blainvillei), California gnatcatcher (Polioptila californica), and the coastal populations of the cactus wren (Campylorhyncus brunneicapillus).

The ecoregion supports between 150 and 200 species of butterflies, has the highest species richness of native bees in the United States, and has a number of relict species such as the Riverside fairy shrimp (Streptocephalus woottoni), found in vernal pools. The rosy boa (Lichanura trivirgata), California legless lizard (Aniella pulchra), and several relict salamanders are examples of the unusual and distinctive herpetofauna. The Mexican portion of the ecoregion constitutes the second largest area of scorpion diversity in Mexico, with 21species (Robles-Gil 1993), and is a prime zone of diversification for spiders, with 332 species of the 1000 known in Mexico. The Channel Islands are noted for endemic and relict plant and animal species and subspecies, many being restricted to single islands. Buckwheats, locoweeds, oaks, and the succulent Dudleyas are noted for
several island endemics. The Catalina ironwood (Lyonothamnus floribundis) is a good example of a relict species once found throughout the mainland. The island night lizard (Xantusia riversiana), island fox (Urocyon littoralis), and Santa Catalina shrew (Sorex willetti) are other endemic animals. Near San Diego, the unique Torrey pine (Pinus torreyana) woodland occurs in Torrey Pine State Reserve. This tree occurs only here in a small population and on Santa Rosa Island. Nutalls woodpecker (Picoides nuttallii) is endemic to this ecoregion, as are several endemic subspecies, which occur in the Channel Islands. Virtually all of the ecoregion is included in the California Endemic Bird Area (Stattersfield et al. 1998).

http://nctc.fws.gov/EC/Resources/fwca/Climate%20Change/Saltmarshes%20and%20CC.pdf Diversity loss is obvious when rapid, but easily missed or confused with successional changes when species shifts are slow. Over the past 30 years, diversity changed rapidly and slowly as Tijuana Estuary experienced both pulse and ramp disturbances (Bender et al. 1984; Lake 2000). The strongest pulse disturbance was inlet closure, which lasted 8 months and coincided with a period of no rainfall. The marsh plain dried and salinized, and many plants and animals experienced high mortality. The endangered Lightfooted clapper rail recovered within a few years (Zedler et al. 1992), but short-lived plants did not. From 1978 through 2004, ooding was a frequent pulse disturbance. As a result, cumulative sedimentation operated as a ramp disturbance that elevated the marsh plain and led to increased soil salinity. Vegetation responses to ramp effects were subtle, in part because drought and ood pulses are very different disturbances (Lake 2000) and in part because of sequencing. Salt marsh diversitywas already depleted by drought when frequent oods began spreading sediments over the marsh plain. Two productive succulents, Sv and Jc, were poised to gain dominance through vegetative expansion and enhancedgrowth. The consequences of shifts in species numbers and abundance are substantial for a region where only 10% of coastal wetland area remains. Diversity loss in Tijuana Estuary was taken seriously, and costly restoration was implemented to compensate for the effects of increased storminess. We use the results of long-term monitoring and multiple restoration efforts to suggest (1) how diversity developed prior to 1974; (2) how diversity was lost in both natural and restored salt marshes; (3) the difculty of predicting future events; and (4) how diversity might be restored. The following narrative ts the facts, although more complex explanations could involve ecosystem attributes for which there are no data (e.g., soil microorganisms, diseases, contaminants).626262626262626262

Feminism
Including feminine perspectives is key to destroying the harmful portrayal of women in the status quo. Peterson 92
*V. Spike Peterson, Professor of International Relations at Arizona University, Gendered States: Feminist (re)visions of International Relations Theory, 1992, http://www.questia.com/read/98189720?title=Gendered%20States%3a%20Feminist%20%28Re %29Visions%20of%20International%20Relations%20Theory#]
Attempts to rectify this systematic exclusion of women constitute a second "moment" in the deconstructive project:

inclusion of women significantly expands the range of knowledge by "asking new questions and generating new data." Focusing on women's lives entails considering new sources and re-evaluating the selectivity of traditional ones; diaries, quilt making, caretaking, domestic activities, and everyday practices more generally take on new significance. Documenting ubiquitous androcentrism and its occlusion of gender hierarchy tends to render women as victims as relatively powerless within male-dominated systems. In contrast, "adding women" disrupts existing frameworks as the mapping of "female worlds" reveals the significance both of women's experience and of women themselves as actors in accommodation with and resistance to structures of domination. No longer "invisible," everyday practices and women's
correcting androcentric falsehoods by adding women and their experience to existing frameworks. This

activitiesespecially when differentiated by class, ethnicity, nationality, age, sexual orientation, or physical ability illuminate the complexity and contradictions attending gender and other social hierarchies.

The worst parts of capitalism are rooted in gender biases. Acker 04 Professor Emerita at University of Oregon (Joan, Gender, Capitalism and
Globalization, Critical Sociology Volume 30, issue 1, 2004, 24-26) The gender-coded separation between production and reproduction became, over time, an underlying principle in the conceptual and actual physical organization of work, the spatial and time relationships between unpaid domestic and paid work, bodily movements through time and space, the general organization of daily life, and the ways that groups and individuals constructed meaning and identities. For example, the rules and expectations of ordinary capitalist workplaces are built on hidden assumptions about a separation of production and reproduction (Acker 1990). The contradictory goals of production and reproduction contribute to another gendered aspect of globalizing capitalist processes. This is the frequent corporate practice, on national and global levels, of claiming non-responsibility for reproduction of human life and reproduction of the natural environment . Here I find it useful to use
Diane Elsons (1994) description in economic terms of the separation between production and reproduction as a division between the monetary productive economy and the non-monetary reproductive economy. 10 The ability of money to mobilize labour power for productive work depends on the operation of some non-monetary set of social relations to mobilize labour power for reproductive work. These non-monetary social relations are subordinate to money in the sense that they cannot function and sustain themselves without an input of money; and they are reshaped in response to the power of money. Nevertheless, neither can the monetary economy sustain itself without an input of unpaid labour, an input shaped by the structures of gender relations (Elson 1994, 40). Elson emphasizes the interdependence of the monetary and non-monetary economies, although she recognizes that macro-economic policy considers only the monetary economy, ignoring the non-monetary economy, in which women perform most of the work. In addition, macro-economic

policy, representing the interests and perspectives of production, implicitly assumes that there is an unlimited supply of unpaid female labour, able

to compensate for any adverse changes resulting from macro-economic policy, so as to continue to meet the basic needs of their families and communities and sustain them as social organizations (Elson 1994, 42). Although

the monetary and nonmonetary economies are interdependent, their interests are also often contradictory and conflicting: maximizing profit and capital accumulation may undermine the reproduction and maintenance of human life, given that an adequate labor supply still exists. At the very least, capitalist expansion has
often involved the subordination of the aims of reproduction to the aims of production, either through explicit policies and practices or through un-benign neglect or non-responsibility. I think it is very important to see non-responsibility as actively constructed through organizational inventions and state actions, such as legislation in the 19th and 20th centuries that created the rights of corporations to act in their own interests, as their leaders defined those interests.

The first step to overthrow neoliberalism is to equalize women into the working class. German 08 [Lindsey German, 10/6/08, Lindsey German is the convenor of the British anti-war
organisation Stop the War Coalition and a former member of the central committee of the Socialist Workers Party. She was editor of Socialist Review for twenty years until 2004, http://www.isj.org.uk/?id=240] When we look at women as workers and not as isolated housewives, our response becomes different. We see that women as part of the class organised in workplaces can build the cohesion and confidence to challenge and eventually overthrow capitalism. That has to be our aim, and in the process of building a revolutionary party which can lead the class to overthrow capitalism we have to have a picture of the class which contains women as an integral part of the workforce. But, it is
usually argued, this doesnt solve the problem that men are sexist even in the party and even after the revolution. No one could deny this was true. But our

solution to it depends on whether we see fighting sexism as something separate from class struggle, or as an integral part of it. If it is the latter than our strategy cannot be for an autonomous movement separate from the party. We have to make the party and the socialist revolution reflect womens aspirations and demands as part of the demands of the class. That means recognising the reality of womens oppression, which often makes it harder for women to get involved at all levels of political life, and which puts on them the double burden of childcare and housework, as well as waged work.

Their truth claims are suspect their interpretation of the international system is based on a foundational exclusion of women Tickner 01-[ professor in the School of International Relations at USC-LA ; J. Ann Gendering World Politics: Issues and
Approaches in the Post-Cold War Era page 51-52] Donna Haraway claims that all terms fictions

scientific theories are embedded in particular kinds of stories, or what she of science. 55 IR feminists, like some other critical theorists, particularly those concerned with genealogy, have examined the stories on which realism and neorealism base their prescriptions for states' national-security behavior, looking for evidence of gender bias. Feminist reanalysis of the socalled creation myths of international relations, on which realist assumptions about states' behavior are built, reveals stories built on male representations of how individuals function in society. The parable of man's amoral, self-interested behavior in the state of nature, made necessary by the lack of restraint on the behavior of others, is taken by realists to be a universal model for explaining states' behavior in the international system. But, as Rebecca Grant asserts, this is a male, rather than a universal, model: were life to go on in the state of nature for more than one generation, other activities
such as childbirth and child rearing, typically associated with women, must also have taken place. Grant also claims that Rousseau's stag hunt, which realists have used to explain the security dilemma, ignores the deeper social relations in which the activities of the hunters are embedded. When

women are absent from these foundational myths, a source of gender bias is created that extends into international-relations theory. 56

We must first discuss feminist ideologies before all else to prevent bias in the scientific and political communities which will harm future studies and endorse false values. Anderson 9 -*Prof of womens studies &philosophy at Michigan, Feminist Epistemology and
Philosophy of Science,+ (PAGE 56) The symbolic identification of the scientific with a masculine outlook generates further cognitive distortions. The ideology of masculinity, in representing emotion as feminine and as cognitively distorting, falsely assimilates emotion-laden thoughtsand even thoughts about emotionsto sentimentality. In identifying the scientific outlook with that of a man who has outgrown his tutelage, cut his dependence on his mother, and is prepared to meet the competitive demands of the public sphere with a clear eye, the ideology of masculinity tends to confuse seeing the natural world as indifferent in the sense of devoid of teleological laws with seeing the social world as hostile in the sense of full of agents who pursue their interests at others' expense (Keller 1992, 116-18). This confusion tempts biologists into thinking that the
selfishness their models ascribe to genes and the ruthless strategic rationality their models ascribe to individual organisms (mere metaphors, however theoretically powerful) are more "real" than the actual care a dog expresses toward her pups. Such

thoughts also reflect the rhetoric of unmasking base motivations behind policies that seem to be benevolent, a common if overused tactic in liberal politics and political theory. The power of this rhetoric depends on an appearance/reality distinction that has no place where the stakes are competing social models of biological phenomena, whose merits depend on their metaphorical rather than their referential powers. Thus, to the extent that the theoretical preference for competitive models in biology is underwritten by rhetoric borrowed from androcentric political ideologies, the preference reflects a confusion between models and reality as well as an unjustified intrusion of androcentric political loyalties into the scientific enterprise. These are not concerns that can be relieved by deploying the discovery/justification distinction. To the extent
that motivations tied to acquiring a masculine-coded prestige as a theorist induce mathematical ecologists to overlook the epistemic defects of models of natural selection that fail to consider the actual impact of sexual selection, parenting, and cooperative interactions, they distort the context of justification itself. Some

of the criteria of justification, such as simplicity, are also distorted in the light of the androcentric distinction between public and private values.
For example, simplicity in mathematical biology has been characterized so as to prefer explanations of apparently favorable patterns of group survival in terms of chance to explanations in terms of interspecific feedback loops, if straightforward individualistic mechanisms are not available to explain them (Keller 1992,153). Finally, to

the extent that gender ideologies inform the context of discovery by influencing the direction of inquiry and development of mathematical tools, they prevent the growth of alternative models and the tools that could make them tractable, and hence they bias our views of what is "simple" (Keller 1992, 160). The discovery/justification distinction, while useful when considering the epistemic relation of a theory to its confirming or disaffirm- ing evidence, breaks down once we consider the relative merits of alternative theories. In the latter context, any influence that biases the development of the field of alternatives will bias the evaluation of theories. A theoretical approach may appear best justified not because it offers an adequate model of the world but because androcentric ideologies have caused more thought and resources to be invested in it than in alternatives.

From Jois fem article

In this essay I have identified the hegemonic structure within which U.S. feminist theory and practice are trapped. This

structure of consciousness stands out in relief against the praxis of U.S. third world feminism, which has evolved to center the differences of U.S. third world feminists across their varying languages, cultures, ethnicities, races, classes, and genders. I have suggested that the "philosophical reordering" referred to by Christian is imaginable only through a new theory and method of oppositional consciousness, a theory only visible when US. third world feminist praxis is recognized. U.S. third world feminism represents a new condition of possibility, another kind of gender, race and class consciousness which has allowed us to recognize and define differential consciousness. Differential consciousness was utilized by feminists of color within the white women's movement; yet it is also a form of consciousness in resistance well utilized among subordinated subjects under various conditions of domination and subordination. The
acknowledgment of this consciousness and praxis, this thought and action, carves out the space wherein hegemonic feminism may become aligned with different spheres of theoretical and practical activity which are also concerned with issues of marginality. Moreover, differential

consciousness makes more clearly visible the equal rights, revolutionary, supremacist and separatist, forms of oppositional consciousness, which when kaleidescoped together comprise a new paradigm for understanding oppositional activity in general.The praxis of U.S. third world feminism represented by the differential form of oppositional consciousness is threaded throughout the experience of social marginality. As such it is also being
woven into the fabric of experiences belonging to more and more citizens who are caught in the crisis of late capitalist conditions and expressed in the cultural angst most often referred to as the postmodern dilemma. The juncture I am proposing, therefore, is extreme. It is a location wherein the praxis of U.S. third world feminism links with the aims of white feminism, studies of race, ethnicity, and marginality, and with postmodern theories of culture as they crosscut and join together in new relationships through a shared comprehension of an emerging theory and method of oppositional consciousness.

The state is not inherently patriarchal reformism is a more effective way to challenge patriarchy
Rhode 94
Deborah L. Rhode, Law Prof @ Stanford, April 1994, Changing Images of the State, 107 Harv. L. Rev. 1181, p ln

Neither can the state be understood solely as an instrument of men's interests. As a threshold
matter, what constitutes those interests is not self-evident, as MacKinnon's own illustrations suggest. If, for example, policies liberalizing abortion serve male objectives by enhancing access to female sexuality, policies curtailing abortion presumably also serve male objectives by reducing female autonomy. n23 In effect, patriarchal frameworks verge on tautology. Almost

any gender-related policy can be seen as either directly serving men's immediate interests, or as compromising short-term concerns in the service of broader, long-term goals, such as "normalizing" the system and stabilizing power relations. A framework that can characterize all state interventions as directly or indirectly patriarchal offers little practical guidance in challenging the conditions it condemns. And if women are not a homogenous group with unitary concerns, surely the same is true of men. Moreover, if the state is best understood as a network of institutions with complex, sometimes competing agendas, then the patriarchal model of single-minded instrumentalism seems highly implausible. It is difficult to dismiss all the anti-discrimination initiatives of the last quarter century as purely counter-revolutionary strategies. And it is precisely these initiatives, with their appeal to "male" norms of "objectivity and the impersonality of procedure, that [have created] [*1186] leverage for the representation of women's interests." n24 Cross-cultural research also suggests that the status of women is positively correlated with a strong state, which is scarcely the relationship that patriarchal frameworks imply. n25
While the "tyrannies" of public and private dependence are plainly related, many feminists challenge the claim that they are the same. As Carole Pateman notes, women do not "live with the state and are better able to make collective struggle against institutions than individuals." n26 To advance that struggle, feminists need

more concrete and contextual accounts of state institutions than patriarchal frameworks have supplied. Lumping together police, welfare workers,

and Pentagon officials as agents of a unitary patriarchal structure does more to obscure than to advance analysis. What seems necessary is a contextual approach that can account for greater complexities in women's relationships with governing institutions. Yet despite their limitations, patriarchal theories underscore an insight that generally informs feminist theorizing. As Part II reflects, governmental institutions are implicated in the most fundamental structures of sex-based inequality and in the strategies necessary to address it. These tensions within the women's movement are, of course, by no means unique. For

any subordinate group, the state is a primary source of both repression and assistance in the struggle for equality. These constituencies cannot be "for" or "against" state involvement in any categorical sense. The questions are always what forms of involvement, to what ends, and who makes these decisions. From some feminist perspectives,
liberalism has failed to respond adequately to those questions because of deeper difficulties. In part, the problem stems from undue faith in formal rights. The priority granted to individual entitlements undermines the public's sense of collective responsibility. This critique has attracted its own share of criticism from within as well as from outside the feminist community. As many left feminists, including critical race theorists, have noted, rights-based

claims have played a crucial role in advancing group as well as individual interests. n32 Such claims can express desires not only for autonomy, but also for participation in the struggles that shape women's collective existence. The priority that state institutions place on rights is not in itself problematic. The central difficulty is the limited scope and inadequate enforcement of currently recognized entitlements.
Since rights-oriented campaigns can advance as well as restrict political struggle, evaluation of their strategic value demands historically-situated contextual analysis.

State key to deconstruct patriarchy

Harrington 92
Mona, lawyer, political scientist, and writer in Cambridge, MA, The Liberal State as an Agent of Feminist Change, in Gendered States: Feminist (Re)Visions of International Relations Theory, ed. V. Spike Peterson, pg. 66 In the face of such pressures, I believe that feminist critics of

the present state system should beware. The very fact that the state creates, condenses, and focuses political power may make it the best friend, not the enemy, of feminists--because the availability of real political power is essential to real democratic control. Not sufficient, I know, but essential. My basic premise is that political power can significantly disrupt patriarchal and class (which is to say, economic) power. It holds the potential, at least, for disrupting the patriarchal/economic oppression of those in the lower reaches of class, sex, and race hierarchies. It is indisputable that, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it has been the political power of states that has confronted the massive economic power privately constructed out of industrial processes and has imposed obligations on employers for the welfare of workers as well as providing additional social supports for the population at large. And the political tempering of economic power has been the most responsive to broad public needs in liberal democracies, where governments must respond roughly to the interests of voters.

Solvency
Mexico is fixing its shit Maleske 12[Contributing writer at InsideCounsel,
http://www.insidecounsel.com/2012/11/28/mexicos-anti-corruption-law-targets-bribery-ingov?t=corporate-crime&page=1 ,Mexico's anti-corruption law targets bribery in government contracting, 11/28/12, MELISSA MALESKE] Incoming Mexican President Enrique Pea Nieto, who replaces President Felipe Caldern on Dec. 1, has indicated that his administration is dedicated to addressing the corruption perceived to be rampant in a country where bribery can be a part of daily life. Transparency International ranked Mexico 100th out of 182 countries on its 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index (the top spot is least corrupt), and its position has fallen for several years. Mexicos new Federal Law Against Corruption in Public Procurement (or Ley Federal Anticorrupcin en Contrataciones Pblicas), which took effect June 12 under Calderns administration and applies to Mexican and non-Mexican corporations and individuals, will aid Pea Nietos efforts to battle corruption. The anti-corruption law prohibits bribery and other activity meant to gain an unlawful advantage in the procurement of public contracts with the Mexican federal government. It also prohibits bribery of non-Mexican government officials and entities by Mexican individuals and corporations.What Mexico is trying to do is at least try to stop the momentum [toward growing public corruption] and try to demonstrate to the international community that theyre going to get this under control, says Michael Volkov, a shareholder in the compliance, investigations and white-collar criminal defense practice at LeClairRyan. Longstanding Problem Mexico is a signatory to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Developments (OECD) Anti-Bribery Convention, but Volkov says he would be surprised if the OECD thought Mexico was effectively fighting corruption. The law wont change things overnight, he says, but it is a positive step. [Mexicos anti-bribery law] is just another example of the efforts of governments around the world to adopt or enhance their respective laws in fighting corruption, as an initial step, and then start enforcing those laws, says Karen Popp, global co-chair of Sidley Austins white-collar practice. The transition may be difficult in Mexico, where bribery is epidemic, a perception reflected by the Transparency International ranking as well as the fact that bribery of foreign officials in Mexico has been a primary focus of many Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigations and prosecutions by U.S. authorities. Certainly one of the most visible is the ongoing FCPA investigation into allegations of bribery in Wal-Mart Stores Inc.s Mexican operations, but Mexicos state-owned Mexican Petroleum and Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) and government-controlled health care system also have been tied to FCPA cases. Notably, an FCPA case against Lindsey Manufacturing Co. led to investigating Mexican authorities of the CFE, multimillion-dollar fines and the dismissal of highranking CFE officialsanother possible signal that Mexico is dedicated to addressing corruption. A First Step The Federal Law Against Corruption in Public Procurement provides that violations against individuals may result in fines ranging from 1,000 to 50,000 times the daily minimum wage for Mexico City (currently 62.33 pesos, or $4.80), an approximate range of $4,800 to $240,000. Individuals who violate the law also will be barred from entering into federal public contracts for up to eight years. Corporations (and other legal entities) found to be in violation will face fines up to 2 million times the daily minimum wage, or $9.6 million at current conversion rates, and may be disqualified from federal public contracts for up to 10 years.

Individuals and corporations that self-report violations are subject to penalty reductions of up to 70 percent. The law took effect June 12, but experts say it may be some time before Mexican officials can build cases against violators and begin to enforce the new law, particularly in complex situations.Popp points to the U.K. Bribery Act, which has been active since July 2011. So far U.K. prosecutors have brought only one minor case under the law.Prosecuting corruption can be a very tedious and time-consuming endeavor, Popp says. So I dont think [the Mexican law] will change things overnight. But is it groundwork to ultimately change the way things are done? Yes, absolutely it could be, and I expect thats why the Mexican government has pursued it. Reform Looms Along with tackling corruption, Pea Nieto has expressed a commitment to labor reform, pressing his political party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), to back the first overhaul of the nations labor laws since 1970. Mexicos legislature continues to close in on passage of a final bill, although it faced a setback in October. We havent changed a comma of the labor laws for 42 years, so its a big, big event, says Oscar De la Vega, managing shareholder of Littler Mendelson in Mexico City. This is going to be a big change and will reduce the cost of operating in Mexico for employers. Although many Mexicans see the need for modernization in a post-North American Free Trade Agreement, globalized Mexico, there has been disagreement on some parts of the proposed decree, which Calderns administration crafted. Mexican workers, students and unions have protested against it, fearing it will strip them of rights and make it easier for employers to fire workers or replace them with less-expensive contracted labor. As for lawmakers, on Oct. 23, Mexicos Senate returned the bill to the Chamber of Deputies (Mexicos lower house of Congress) to reconsider rules over union transparency and accountability. The version of the bill that the Chamber of Deputies approved and passed to the Senate in September was stripped of a number of amendments that would have imposed on trade unions greater disclosure requirements, including an annual audit of assets for unions with more than 150 members, and a voluntary, direct and secret voting process. De la Vega says that if the legislature can come to a consensus and pass the new law, it will generally benefit employers and could lead to job creation (see Labor Law Updates). OECD Secretary General Jos ngel Gurra has said the reform could lead to millions of new jobs and economic growth in Mexico.It makes Mexico friendlier for inves- tors to do business in, from a labor perspective, De la Vega says. The idea is to make the law more flexible because when we look at the international experience, [we see that+ when the laws become more flexible, it generates more formal jobs. Weissbrodt article http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:uuoKoBujLL0J:www.ilsa.org/jessup/je ssup06/basicmats2/weissbrodt.doc+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us A significant portion of the Norms and Commentary devoted to implementation involves monitoring. The Norms begin by calling on businesses to conduct internal monitoring and to ensure that monitoring is transparent by disclosing the workplaces observed, remediation efforts undertaken, and other results of such scrutiny. [FN94] Monitoring is also to take input from relevant stakeholders into account. [FN95] Unions, of course, are the principal stakeholders with regard to working conditions, and in that context collective bargaining agreements cannot be replaced by the Norms or other mechanisms for corporate social responsibility. Implementing the Norms also requires making sure that businesses establish legitimate and confidential avenues for workers to file complaints regarding violations, and that they refrain from retaliating against workers that do make complaints. [FN96] Once again, collective

bargaining agreements and union procedures must be maintained. Businesses must record all complaints, take proper steps to resolve them, and act to prevent recurrences. [FN97] Businesses are further called on to make periodic reports and to take other measures to implement the Norms fully. [FN98] The Commentary urges businesses to work in a transparent *917 manner, by regularly disclosing information about their activities, structure, financial situation, and performance, as well as identifying the location of their offices, subsidiaries, and factories. [FN99] Businesses must also engage in periodic assessments and the preparation of impact statements. [FN100] Assessments and impact statements are to take into account comments made by stakeholders, and the results of any such assessments are to be made available to all relevant stakeholders. In addition, businesses are charged with assessing the human rights impact of major new projects, [FN101] and where an assessment shows inadequate compliance with the Norms, the Commentary requires the business to include a plan of action for reparation and redress. [FN102]