A joint Mexican-U.S. effort to curb air pollution in the El Paso-Juárez area is being seen as a model for other communities along the 2,000-mile international border. Four years ago, the U.S. states of Texas and New Mexico and the Mexican state of Chihuahua abandoned piecemeal clean-air approaches in favor of a joint, cross-border strategy that regards air as a common resource. Behind the initiative is the Joint Advisory Committee for the Improvement of Air Quality in the Paso del Norte Air Basin (JAC), a 20-member, binational panel of non-governmental and governmental organizations. Co-chaired by federal officials from Mexico and the United States, the committee makes recommendations to U.S. and Mexican government agencies at the local, state... [Log in to read more]