Researcher ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0009-0006-9273-7975
Graduation Year
2023
Date of Submission
4-2023
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Environmental Analysis
Reader 1
Susan Phillips
Reader 2
Tamara Venit-Shelton
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© Elizabeth Hernandez
Abstract
The El Paso-Ciudad Juárez (EPJ) region has a history of nonattainment for ozone and particulate matter. Given transboundary air pollution in the EPJ region is not confined to the U.S.-Mexico border, it is important to implement a transnational response that accounts for the health and safety of everyone, including marginalized communities in EPJ. This thesis assesses the state of air quality and transboundary air pollution in the EPJ region through a multidisciplinary perspective that focuses on issues of data monitoring, environmental governance, and transnational environmental justice. Analysis of the quantity and placement of ambient monitoring stations reveals EPJ residents near major pollution sources are underrepresented in the air monitoring network. Cross-border governmental collaboration efforts are found to be at stake in the dispute to blame Ciudad Juarez for El Paso’s ozone nonattainment status. Community organizations in El Paso were found to address air pollution concerns, yet the lack of community organizations in Ciudad Juarez doing such work calls for the opportunity to implement a transnational network addressing transboundary air pollution concerns. Results of this multidisciplinary research suggest a transnational response that increases ambient monitoring stations near major pollution sources, addresses air pollution reduction rather than blame, and fosters a transnational network, will improve the wellbeing of marginalized border communities disproportionately impacted by air pollution in the EPJ region. Located along the U.S.-Mexico border, Latine communities and Latine environments in El Paso-Ciudad Juárez have long been rendered marginal by the government institutions in place.
Recommended Citation
Hernandez, Elizabeth, "The Stateless Agent: A Multidisciplinary Analysis of Transboundary Air Pollution in the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez Region of the U.S.-Mexico Border" (2023). CMC Senior Theses. 3330.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/3330
Included in
Environmental Policy Commons, Environmental Studies Commons, International Relations Commons, Latina/o Studies Commons, United States History Commons, Urban Studies Commons
